Invisible Chains
by Plains-Of-White
Summary: "If you fall in love with me you'll be killed." "By who?" "Me."
1. Invisible Girl

"Lucy Heartfilia." The teacher's voice sounded throughout the medium-sized classroom in a call. As usual, no one answered back and he moved on.

Lucy Heartfilia. That was a name everyone at his school knew, you'd have to be deaf, blind, senseless, and living under a rock to not at least have heard of her. She was the girl who everyone knew of, but no one actually knew anything about beyond appearance wise. She never appeared to any of their classes, was never seen at any meal, and did not sleep in any of the dormitory rooms. She was only ever seen by glimpses around the school, entering and exiting rooms that were off limits to everyone else but staff.

Rumor has it that she actually attended classes regularly two years ago until something happened and she had almost seemingly disappeared, completely out of sight from everyone for several months before suddenly resurfacing again, only ever making appearances in the hallways.

I wouldn't know anything about it though, I've never actually shared a class with her until this year; the year rumor said she was supposed to be returning to class. However she never actually shows up to any of them, our teachers act as if it's completely normal and never do anything to bring her in or check on her.

Even so, her repeated absences has made nearly all the students become nervous on just exactly what she was and why she is always gone. Voices spread throughout the Academy, saying things like people having seen the mysterious student wear level two mutabraces, or ideas of her being a level SS class mutant.

Oh did I forget to mention that? The school where I go to is a mutant academy for humans born with mutated blood. Me personally had first started attending this school just a little over year ago, having been able to hide my powers, and my unusual pink hair, up until the bastard neighbor saw me playing with my powers through the window.

Would you like a bit of an explanation of what kind of crap world I live in and what all these words mean?

First off, the first mutation had happened around four hundred years ago, in a man known as Zeref, who would not age and had the ability to kill someone with just a stare. After Zeref more and more mutants had begun to appear around the entire globe. At first the humans had only seen us as monsters and a threat that needed to be extinguished. The humans had begun to kill any mutant they could find, starting with the children who could not control their powers yet. It had turned into a mass genocide, but the humans could not kill all of us because we are what we are because of our genes. There was no way to tell who had a mutant gene, as science and technology was not as advanced, so they simply continued to kill every mutant they could find for about one hundred and seventy years. When a mutant by the name of Mavis Vermillion, holding the power of illusions, had led a revolution that fought for the rights of the mutants. The war had been come know as the Decade War, as it lasted for ten years. At the end of it, both sides had suffered heavy losses and large amounts of deaths. Mavis was able to make diplomatic relations with the head of the state and make a treaty with the humans, in which mutants would no longer be hunted in exchange for a guarantee that mutants would never attack them; and for a while there was peace, but the mutants were still left with very little rights. They had to do a regular sign in to show their current location every three weeks so the government could keep track of their whereabouts. Mutants were also not aloud to live in certain parts of the cities that were deemed 'Human Only'. Even after they had gained the freedom of their lives, they had not gained recognition as equals. Even now, two hundred years later, mutants were still categorized as being naturally dangerous.

But about one hundred years ago, science had advanced to the ability to find out what it was that made a mutant a mutant. It was what they called a muta gene, one almost every human carried, whether or not they become one is based on the process of the child's development in the womb.

Technology also allowed them to create an item known as a mutabrace, a type of brace worn on the arms or ankles that could repress the mutants genes in a body to either lower the strength of a mutants power, or stop it all together based on the level of restrictions put on.

After another mutant rights movement covering over twenty years concerning the use of these braces another law on mutants was created, saying that: the government couldn't force mutants to wear them unless they are in a detention center, prison, or if desired by a mutant. And eighty five years ago this academy was formed to teach children and teenage mutants how to control their powers to prove to the government that we do not need to be subdued and are capable of living a normal life alongside humans.

History lesson over! Literally. I just got done with Mutant History class and that was the subject, in fact that was just the teacher giving a quick review before our final in class tomorrow, that wasn't me talking... thinking...?

"Finally, I never the teacher would stop talking." My best friend and greatest rival, Gray Fullbuster, complained from the seat right in front of mine.

"You just thought that 'cause ya suck at history." I teased him as I gathered my materials into my book bag.

"Brag all you want, you're still an idiot in everything else but history." He chided back with a mocking smirk on his face.

"What was that you popsicle fuck?" I insulted him with a fist in the air.

"You wanna go you flameass?" The raven haired boy challenged.

The nicknames we had for each other are based on our power, mine of fire and his of ice, it led to a funny rivalry and friendship because of it.

We raised up our fists to begin our brawl, but before we could do anything our heads were smashed together in a forced headbut by none other than the student council president and my other best friend, Erza Scarlet.

"Stop fighting, both of you!" The red haired weapons specialist commanded them.

"Yes ma'am."

"Yes ma'am." We said together in sinc.

Erza was a light user of a unique form in that she creates weapons out of light. Her weapons are predominantly swords, but she also has the ability to make bows, arrows, and other weapons like axes, she just didn't use them as much.

"Come on we only have two hours of free time before dinner, I'm sure you guys don't want to spend it in the detention center." Erza commented before leading them out of the classroom. The detention center was the last place any mutant wanted to be. With in it's pure white walls and floor a mutant is forced to wear metabraces and stripped of their powers. Wearing those braces fucking hurts and I have no desire to withstand that kind of pain.

Striding into the hallway to head to our usual hang out place in the eastern hall's lounge, where they spent most of their free at the school. At Dreyer Mutant Academy, school started every morning at nine and ended at four, then they had a two hour free time until dinner at six o'clock for an hour. Afterwards was a four hour free time until curfew at ten, when everyone has to be in their rooms. In my free time, I usually spend it with my friends in the eastern lounge where they have multiple gaming counsels, an air hockey and pool table, as well as a forty inch flat screen tv. It's awesome, and just so happens to be my favorite place to be in the whole school. Here at the Academy students aren't allowed to leave under any circumstances besides on holiday, this is enforced by the constant energy shield that surrounds the school, no one can leave or enter unless aloud by the Dean. It's supposed to be for our safety and so we can focus on our powers better without the interferences of the outside world, so everyone goes along with it.

"Dude the Wii is free, let's go play Mario kart." Gray nudged him and pointed to the small white Wii in the back left corner of the large, open room.

The three of us made our way over to the Wii and quickly snatched the remotes, sitting ourselves down on the couch while Gray put the game in. Spending a short time customising our karts we continued on to racing on every single one of the tracks, playing in our usual order of favorites. Before we knew it the dinner bell signaled throughout the room and the rest of the school. The kids around the lounge all immediately stopped what they were doing to head on over to the cafeteria to eat, as, if you missed dinner, the next meal you'd get wouldn't be till the next day at breakfast.

"Come on we better get going." Erza said to them as she stood up from the couch and headed for the door. Gray stood up as well and began to follow after her, but stopped when he saw that I had started in a different direction than them.

"You coming flame head?" He questioned.

"In a second, there's something I need to do first." I said to him as I made my way to the opposite direction of the cafeteria.

"Oh, you mean your stalking endeavors. Gotcha." The ice mutant smirked as he took off his jacket.

"It's not stalking, it's observing, and would you stop stripping already!" I yelled at him as he took off his shirt.

"Fuck when did I do that?" He cursed and put his shirt back on. Stripping was a weird habit Gray's had apparently ever since he was young. "Well anyway don't take to long stalking her this time, don't want to miss dinner again." He waved me off and went down to get his dinner. My dinner will have to wait a little while longer, cause around this time every day when everyone's away in the cafe, Lucy Heartfilia will be in the library reading or looking for a new book.

I had first discovered this when I went to grab my notebook that I had left there two weeks ago during dinnertime, that's when I saw her sitting in the back reading a book all by herself. When she looked up and saw me I had accidentally freaked and ran out. I had heard so many stories about her that I didn't know what to think of her, so I instinctively ran. I returned the next day, but stayed hidden and just watched her read. She was so calm and warm looking that I had begun to desire knowing more about her. So the next day I approached her in the hall when I saw her passing, but she ignored me and walked away. I tried again the next day, and the next, but she would never stop to speak to me. So day after day I had begun to watch her in the library and study her, trying to figure out why she's so distant. Gray had found out and jokingly called me a stalker, but he never made a move to stop me so I guess he's fine with it.

In all the days that I've been observing her I've notice one thing stand out immensely, and that was her eyes. Whenever I saw her passing in the halls they always looked dead and devoid of any emotion, but when she was alone they were always a lit with various feelings of excitement, suspense, and interest from reading her books. I would always try and find out which books she had been reading to know what had made her look that way. From the ones I've actually been able to locate, it seems that she enjoys adventure and mystery the most, not really what I expected from her, but it made me more interested none the less.

Again today the blonde was sitting in her usual armchair by the window with a book in her always gloved hands. I took my position at the corner of two aisles of bookshelves that kept me hidden from sight behind a row of tables, but allowed me to see her from where I was kneeling. As I crouched down and stared over the table I noticed that she wasn't looking at her book today, and was instead staring out the window beside her. Her hands set her book down in her lap and moved to her wrists and began to rub underneath the long, light pink sleeves of the cotton sweater she was wearing. Just barely, I was able to make out a metal brace that was wrapped around her arm. Crawling closer under the tables to get a better view I saw that it was in fact a metabrace that she had on, as well as another one on her other arm.

'Is she getting punished?' I wondered in my mind. Metabraces were usually only worn as punishment to a mutant who was abusing their powers, also if was a small offense authorities would only put on one, two was meant for more vigorous crimes to leave a mutant powerless.

Suddenly a shift of her legs brought a clack and shine of more metal to my eyes. Looking down I saw that she was wearing two more braces around her ankles.

'That's insane! Only the ten saints are able to withstand that much restraint on there powers!'

My mind was now completely blown, and completely intrigued. The third level of restraint, wearing three braces at once, is meant to completely take away a mutants powers and leave them with no energy to even stand. For mutants, the gene is our life force, so having restrictions on it to such an extent can drain energy and even kill us if left in that state for a long period of time. Only ten mutants, known as the Ten Saints, have the ability to withstand that high level for without being injured, but even then all of their powers are gone.

Dazed in confusion, I accidentally let a gasp leave my throat and mouth. Lucy Heartfilia immediately covered her arms and looked up in alarm, jumping to her feet.

"Whose there?" She called out warily, carrying herself with an intimidated look and scared aura. Trying to keep my calm I slowly backed out from under the table, grabbing onto the side and hoisting myself off the blue carpeted ground. I stood up slowly from behind the table and held my hands up in the air as a way to show I meant no harm.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude." I apologized and steeped out from behind the table and towards her, but stopped my advancement when she took a step back.

"How long have you been there?" She questioned.

"A few minutes." I answered, a bit embarrassed about being caught red handed. But oh her voice, this is the first time I've heard it, so much softer and more vibrant than I expected it to be, and less monotone than I would have thought.

"You're not supposed to be here. You should leave." She said looking down as she wrapped her arms around herself in comfort, making her breasts pop out more, not like I was looking in that direction or anything.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." I said again but not moving from where I stood, not really wanting to leave her when I'm finally able to her her talk.

"Leave..." She said in a low voice, her words coming out in a desperate plea.

Suddenly the energy around her began to shift and grow stronger, Lucy Heartfilia brought her hands to her head and bent over, her back arching in what looked like an internal struggle. Out of nowhere, the chair she had been sitting on disintegrated in a flash, leaving it a pile of unknown matter, then it was a chair again. The book by her also disintegrated, but then formed into a block of wood. "Get out of here..." Her voice rang out again.

The energy around her became even more dense and created a strong gust of wind in the room, pushing furniture away and casting items through the air. I could only stand there in shock of what to do. She was using her powers with such strength while at the fourth level of restraint, no mutant in history could ever do that! By all means she should be completely immobilized with those four braces on.

Slowly the energy around the blonde had begun to lessen up as she got it under control again, but the damage of her little episode showed in the disparagement of the library. Lucy Heartfilia, the girl no one knew anything about, fell to the ground in shudders and sat there on her knees shaking. In her disarray her bangs were left slightly parted, enabling me to see an item hidden behind them, a silver band wrapped around her head previously hidden by her long blonde hair.

The fifth restraint. The mutant's crown.

By all means, she should be dead.

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Did you guys expect a mutant story? What did you think of the first chapter? Please let me know.

Well this one will be a mystery, suspense, thriller, romance, adventure packed story. A little different from what I usually do. *Cough* not really *cough*

A big thanks to Sunnysidezach for helping me with the story idea and first chapter.

School starts in two weeks and I'm now entering junior year, so I may not be able to update often (when did I ever update often?) But I'll try to not keep you guys waiting for to long.

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	2. Invisible Threats

It had happened before I knew what was going on, or before I knew what to expect. Right after Miss Lucy Heartfilia collapsed onto the ground in tremors after her chaotic release of energy in the library room, three tall men, all clothed in what I thought was black metacloth suits, barged in and took her away, connecting her two arm braces together behind her back as if she were their prisoner. Before I could move or call out to them a woman standing an inch taller than me, with short brown hair, wearing a lab coat, stood out in front of me, blocking my way.

"I'm sorry Mr. Dragneel, but I'm going to have to ask you to come with me. You're not at liberty to ask any questions nor refuse to cooperate." The woman said to me, her soft and kind tone holding a shadowed air of seriousness. The woman walked away from him, another man in the same kind of suit as the others flanked behind her. I begrudgingly followed the two of them out of the library and out into the evening darkened hallway, light provided by the small lamps on the walls. The walk was silent and still, only the echo of our feet on the wood plank floor broke through the lack of communication. The woman led me over to the student restricted area that was only accessible by the Dean and certain members of the faculty. We came into a small room that looked like an office with white walls, a metal floor, and no windows as if to keep secrecy.

As soon as the door closed the air became stiff and hard to breath in, breathing became more troublesome and my head began to pound in an intense migraine. I fell to my knees on the cold floor as I felt myself choke on nothing.

"Neat huh?" The woman at last spoke again, her voice still sickeningly sweet. "Some of the same fibers used in the metabraces are sown into the metal floor so mutants are rendered immobile, but are still left alive." The woman took her seat on a rolling chair, completely unaffected by the room as I was. That's when it dawned on me, she's not affected because she wasn't a mutant.

"Now, Natsu Dragneel, you are not allowed to speak of what you have seen, nor are you allowed to contact the subject at anytime. You cannot tell any other person of what you have experienced tonight, or who we are. Any further involvement in this case will immediately in confined detention and the forced wear of mutabraces."

The way the woman spoke and her choice vocabulary only served to bring me into confusion. Subject? Case? What in the world was this woman going on about? I had half a mind to snap at her for not making any sense, but the brain splitting pain rendered me unable to speak in a coherent sentence. The nameless woman gave me a single glance of disgust, a look of sadistic pleasure hidden in the depths of her eyes from my apparent suffering in that room. With a flick of her wrist, her lackey grabbed me by my upper arm and quite literally dragged and threw out of the room like a dead sack of potatoes. As soon as my body left that room I felt my strength return to me once again. I laid there on the ground for a few moments, gasping, and trying to stand. I felt a little wobbly on my feet, but I managed to stand and walk over to her door. On it was a placard that read: Dr. Marson.

I don't know who this woman was, what she was doing, or who she worked for, but what I've learned from her in the short time that she spoke was that she was a human who I could be held partly responsible to why Miss Lucy Heartfilia was never seen in class, and never converged in conversation with anyone. Dr. Marson should have known that I have a real knack for doing what I'm not supposed to do. If she thinks that little chat and room could scare me out of stalk- I mean, observing Lucy Heartfilia, she was dead wrong.

Walking away from her office and the restricted area I headed for the cafeteria to have my dinner, which was hopefully still warm and plentiful. Guess that's wishful thinking, huh? By the time I got there the majority of the student body had already left the dining hall. Going to the now small kitchen line, I grabbed myself a large bowl of spicy chicken ramen with a side of miso soup and mochi ice cream for dessert. I headed for the table where I usually sit at for my meals, seeing it was empty and that my friends had abandoned me like assholes. Sitting myself down alone I dug into my food, not bother to take my time and savor the flavor 'cause I had to hurry and tell Gray what just happened tonight. Like I said earlier, I'm not good at following orders.

Finishing off my meal quickly and dropping my dishes off in the bins I run off back to the eastern lounge, where he'd most likely be. And as I thought, when I arrived into the large open-spaced room, he was there with Erza and his girlfriend Juvia. I stepped into the room walking briskly over straight for them, but froze when I saw one of Marson's lackeys standing in the corner of the room, keeping a keen eye on me. Dreyer Academy has always had security within its own walls in order to protect the students from each other and from anti-mutant terrorists. But the guards took regular rounds around the building halls and outside grounds, not staying in one place for too long so the students often ignored them. Though for some reason this man stood out like a sore thumb from all the other guards I've ever seen before. For starters, his clothing attire was completely different from what the usual guards, it was darker and more formal, the usual guards wore black pants with a short-sleeved, white button-up shirt. This nameless man was wearing a black suit with a white button-up and a black necktie, I could only guess it it was metacloth, which was really hard to distinguish from normal cloth unless you wore it.

Now aware of this strange man watching me I walked less briskly and more casual over to my friends, but I felt my muscles tense against my will, suddenly feeling nervous about saying anything.

"Hey guys!" I said in a fake voice, hoping the others would notice something was wrong. But none of them looked up from the Disney movie they were watching, too entranced with Mulan running away to join the Chinese army to bother with me.

"Hey, now be quiet." Erza ordered, more enthralled than anyone else, as this was her favorite Disney movie. I sighed and sat down on the ground, leaning my back against the arm of the couch since there was no more room it. After sitting down I felt a hand tap my shoulder, and looked back at Gray, who had taken his attention away from the movie.

"How was the stalking?" He inquired in a whisper, his face still coy. I opened my mouth to answer him but stopped when I heard footsteps behind the couch. Looking back I noticed the man had made his way closer to me, now sitting at the round table not far behind them, staring at me with an intense gaze. I felt my mouth go dry and my mind freeze up, I suddenly felt vulnerable.

"The same." I answered hastily and focused back on the movie. Gray seemed to be weirded out by my fast answer, but didn't bother to question me.

I allowed myself to enveloped in the movie as well, but my focus would not sit still and my mind kept wandering to two things: The man behind me, and the strange air surrounding Lucy Heartfilia. Even when the next movie started, which I had decided on since it was my turn to choose, my favorite Tarzan, I spent another two hours, now on the couch since Juvia decided to occupy Gray's lap, with my thoughts running wild in my mind. Every so often I would take a look back and see the man still there in the back of the room watching me, which gave my nerves no time to relax. The man's presence was like a chain on my own mind, almost forbidding me from even thinking about today's events. I kept picturing Lucy Heartfilia hunched over in pain and fear as her own powers as they grew out of her own control. I kept thinking of the five restraints she had on and wondered what kind of pain they would create for her, as they are designed for punishment and are meant to cause constant pain. The restraint of the muta gene from just one brace can cause a mutant piercing pain based on their power level and age.

Since a mutant's power grows as they age, a power ranking isn't given until the age of fifteen. The rankings are UA- under average, A- average, AA- above average, S- super, and SS- super strength, and lastly WD- world destruction, meaning they have the ability to destroy the world. Only three mutants of that caliber have ever lived, and they were all killed by the humans and other mutants when they posed to much of a threat.

I myself am level AA, along with all of my friends except Erza and my other friend Mira, who are both level S and have to wear a level one restraint at all times because of it. All mutants S and above have to wear at least one restraint at all times as a sort of precaution. It seemed cruel, but the government said it was for general protection. I didn't buy that bullshit though, it's because of a lack of trust in mutants, pretty much everyone knows that.

Being distracted with my own mind I failed to notice the movie pass and end, as well as the signal for curfew. Everyone around him put away the controls, games, and movies, then headed out for their rooms. I stood and walked out along with them like a zombie, still not completely out of my thoughts yet. When I walked out into the hall I saw another man at the end of the walkway, dressed similarly to the man in the room. I strode down the hall towards him, keeping off to the side and trying my best not to look at him. Turning the corner I saw another man in my way, there was an entire line of odd guards leading down the path to mine and Gray's dorm. None of them moved towards me, but simply watched as I walked. The ice user also seemed to notice them, getting crept out as well. The last man stood next to their door, staring me down, not bothering with Gray. Gray took out his key and we went inside, locking the door behind them.

"Dude what was that about?" He questioned turning to me. I shrugged my shoulders and played oblivious card.

"Dunno, I'm going to sleep." I told him and walked over to my bedroom closing the door behind me. I wanted to tell Gray what was going on, tell him of my encounter with the almost sadistic doctor, but I could not shake the feeling that I was being watched. Being paranoid I went around my room in search of any proof that someone was listening in on me. I looked up at the walls and ceiling, down on the ground and under my carpet. I checked my on top and under my mattress, blankets, and pillows, then looked around the bed frame. I guess I was making more noise than I thought because Gray walked in, looking concerned.

"Natsu what are you doing?" He asked. I didn't answer him right away as I tore apart my drawers, throwing my clothes every which way.

"Looking for a camera or a wire tap!" I replied and moved to my closet, throwing things out and looking through my clothes in search.

"Why?" He questioned, making his way further into my now dirty room.

"I need proof!"

"Of what?!" He demanded and grabbed my arm, stopping me from looking any further in the closet. I ripped my arm away and went over to my desk.

"Someone is watching me." I hissed and continued my search.

"What is going on?" He groaned and rubbed his temple. "You're not acting like yourself, Natsu, and now there are a truck load of strange guys outside our door. What happened man?"

Knowing I couldn't answer that question yet I continued to look around his desk, kneeling down to look under I saw a small foreign object under the desktop, a small and black looking speaker, a wire tap. Pulling it off I stood up and showed it to him."

"Found it." I said. Lighting a flame in the palm of my hand I burned and destroyed the device.

"Why was that there?" Gray asked pointing to the ashes.

"They wanted to watch me, keep me quiet." I told him and dumped the ashes in the garbage.

"Who's they?"

"I'm not sure, but I know they're trying to keep something about Lucy Heartfilia a secret."

I then proceeded to tell Gray everything that had happened this evening. About Lucy Heartfilia's strange outbreak of power, her wearing five restrictions with the ability to use her powers with such strength. I talked about the men who took her away and the woman who brought me into a metafiber room and how I was brought to my knees and the warning she gave me. Then finally about the man who had been watching me the entire time we were in the lounge and the odd feeling he gave me. When I finished explaining Gray looked at me a bit dumbfounded, not knowing what to think or say.

"...Five braces?" Gray finally worded when he eventually broke out of his initial shock.

"Yes." I responded. "She had the mutant's crown." My confirmation only served to send him into further confusion on what to think.

"Shouldn't you just stop seeing her?" He asked in suggestion.

"What? Why?"

"Because, dude, if she had the fifth restraint it means she must have a power level of WD. If the government has kept her alive, it must be either because they have a plan for her or because she can't be killed!" He warned me, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"You don't know that!" I argued back at him, shoving his hands off. "There was concern and fear in her eyes when it happened, I know she doesn't want to hurt anyone."

"Natsu you don't know that. You don't know who she even is, what can you say about her?" Gray challenged taking a step forward.

I don't know who she truly is, I don't know what she likes and what she doesn't like, I don't know her age or what she wants to be. But these are all things I want to learn, ever since I first saw Lucy Heartfilia reading alone in the library, or walking quietly in the hallways, I've wanted to know who she was. There is something big going on beneath everyone's nose that no one knows about, non-mutants from the government or a secret organization, or even the school itself are using cruel methods against this single mutant who is almost never seen and kept hidden away. And now it has affected me and invaded my life and privacy, I have a right to know what is going on.

"I want to know what's going on." I said to him. "Please keep this between us." Gray sighed, he knew my stubbornness best and that I wouldn't listen to anything else that he has to say.

"Okay then, just don't don't get yourself killed." He told in an order.

"Of course." I smirked and we fist bumped. Not having anything else to say, I turned away and began to clean up the large mess I had created in my room from throwing everything out of it's place. Gray left to go sleep while I spent the next hour cleaning.

I didn't know what I was getting myself into, or who it was I was going up against, but what I did know is that whoever these people are, they've made a grand mistake in threatening me then trying to scare me away. I don't care if they have an entire arsenal on their side, I will get to the bottom of this. I will know who the girl Lucy Heartfilia is.

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Just so you know there will be the occasional cuss word in this story to make it seem more realistic. ALSO! I will most likely only be updating on weekends because of school, and not every weekend because I have other stories and a life to tend to. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, you will be left in the dark along side Natsu until everything is uncovered.

This is a Natsu POV only fic! Lucy will not receive a pov at all. Please leave a review and tell me what you think, they help more than you know! Until next time, stay safe and stay happy everyone.

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	3. 14 Days of Invisibility

Two weeks has passed since 'the burst', as I had come to call it, had happened in the library, and in all that time since I haven't seen hide nor hare of Miss Lucy Heartfilia. Not in the halls; where I commonly see her in the southeast hall during passing time between periods three and four at eleven every morning, exiting the dining hall and heading for the northeastern hall's restricted area; or the library, where she'd be for the first twenty minutes of dinner; or even the dining hall, where she would eat thirty minutes past the end of the dinner period. I'm not a stalker, I'm an observer. It's not like I followed her around everyday for two weeks to get this information or mapped out her exact locations along with times and dates to calculate when I'd most likely be able to talk to her alone without interference by staff or other students only to chicken out each time and reside to just watching her from a distance close enough to see her perfectly, but far enough not to be caught, while taking notes on what she does and wears to try and decipher her likes and dislikes. All skills of an everyday stal- I mean observer.

However, now that she's just disappeared from under the radar, I don't know to do or how to look for her. Reverting to my old life of just hanging out with my friends playing video games and watching disney doesn't feel the same anymore. Not to mention the 'Watchers', as I had once again nicknamed the strange men in black suits working under Dr. Marson, are still keeping their constant gaze on me. No longer in large number, as they had learned a scare tactic wouldn't be enough to end my pursuit, but still constant in being everywhere I went. They were only ever absent when it came to me being in class or inside my dorm, but in the halls and lounges they were a continuous presence with an unshifting gaze.

On the second day of her absence, things took an unforeseen turn. The Watchers no longer kept their gazes limited to only me, but every student and staff member in the facility. It did not take long for the others to notice the Watchers that surrounded us, by the third day everyone in the entire academy knew of their strange presence. Most students chopped it off as being a new form of security in the school sent by the government and did their best to sweep it under the rug, trying to ignore them. But this simple explanation did not stop students from talking about the possibilities of a nearing punishment or expulsion of a student or group of students. Others thought it was a secret move by anti-mutant members of the governmental senate to take over the school and possibly kill them all.

As the days of the week passed on, the tensions of the student body only began to rise further than before. The school had started to become divided between those who saw the presence as a mere step of protection, and others who saw it as a threat on the school and their lives. Teachers tried to calm the minds of the worried and confused students, but in truth they didn't understand what was going on either.

Currently, I sat in the cafeteria eating breakfast on the sixth day since Miss Lucy Heartfilia disappeared, my closest friends sitting with me. We all sat just slightly closer together than usual, our eyes trained on the intruders who stood as guards by the doors, mutacuffs and muta-based tranquilizers hanging from their sides. Nearly eighty percent of the students here nearly expected them to cover the exits and shoot the all down right then and there.

"I don't like this." Levy stated from her spot by her (unofficial but we totally know there together) boyfriend, Gajeel. Levy had the ability to bring words she drew to life, an interesting power, but quite useless in battle and a bit weak. Gajeel, on the other hand, was perfect for combat and really powerful as he could turn his entire body into solid iron.

"Me neither." Erza agreed with the blue-haired mutant. "But we've been ordered by the dean not to mind them."

"Well I mind them." Loke huffed and leaned back in his chair, putting his arms behind his head to rest it on them. Loke was a dual powered mutant, meaning he was born with two different powers; them being the power to control and manipulate light, and the ability to shape shift into a lion. Dual or multi power mutants were uncommon, but not rare.

"I agree. This whole babysitter crap is a bunch of bullshit." Gajeel agreed in his usual gruff voice.

"Well we can't do anything without getting in trouble with the dean. It's best to ignore them until they leave from whatever they're here for." Mirajane, a shape shifter/power stealer, cut in with a sigh.

Turning my attention away from the conversation, I turned to look over my shoulder at one of the Watchers, who in turn was staring right back at me. Glaring at him I looked down at my cupped hands, and started to think about the school's situation and the cause for it. Government workers were occasionally seen at the school, but they never stayed over night and never openly carried weapons as to not pose a threat. These people were different, staying for days on end out in the open, plainly carrying weapons as if to purposefully pose as a threat to them, so these men could not work for the government. But if they didn't, who do they work for, and what brought them here? The first time I saw them was the night of the Burst when they came in to take Miss Lucy Heartfilia away, so they were most likely here for her. If that's the case, why are they so interested in Miss Heartfilia, and why do they not want anyone to know about her?

Gray must have noticed my abnormal silence, as I felt his hand on my shoulder as he steered me into the conversation.

"Hey, Natsu you alright? You're never this quiet." Gray inquired with a jab. Nodding my head I murmured a quick "just tired" and stood up from my seat.

"I just need to think." I said as I turned away from the table, hearing Gajeel make a snide comment about my supposed lack of the ability to think as I quote unquote "don't have a brain." I simply ignore his pestering for once and continued on out of the cafeteria. As I walked over to the double doors my eyes trained in on one of the Watchers and time seemed to slow down as we stared each other down, both with more knowledge than everyone else, yet I seemed to have less. When I finally left the room, the door closing shut behind me, time continued on normally, and I turned to make my way to my room, wanting time to be alone and to think with no hindrance until class started. Maybe I'll skip today.

Shit hit the fan the next day, on the seventh day of the first week, when during the last class of the day, a sudden surge of energy erupted from the ground and created a level six earthquake. The alarm systems went off and Teachers directed their students to hide under their desks in a hurried panic. The earthquake lasted for about thirty seconds, but was enough to cause damage to the majority of the eastern hall. A total of five students were injured in the quake, and luckily none were killed. The Dean later declared that Hall inaccessible to students until further notice. However, this strange event only caused for more panic and confusion. Earthquakes were rare where they were, being so far inland, and no student with earth abilities or anything similar was known to cause it. However I recognized this kind of power and magnitude and later went to search the eastern hall, but found nothing.

Needing a place to point a finger, many students and even staff turned on the Watchers, blaming the strange outsiders for causing the havoc on the school. The accusations had begun to become violent on the ninth day when a student, Eric Cobra, got in the face of one of the Watchers and shoved him when he remained unaffected. This caused the Watcher to put him down and send him to the detention hall on account of harassment. Many of the students saw this as too rough of a punishment and openly tried to bail him out, as every mutant knew how hellish the detention cells were, even low case cells like the ones they had at the school. But the Watchers stood guard at the detention center, and when any student showed any sign of aggressive behavior, they were thrown in as well. The first to be sent in where all of Eric's closest friends, but a few others were sent in as well, including his girlfriend Kinana.

Staff then got involved with the Watchers, demanding the release of the children. Mr. Clive, Cana's father, especially stood up for them and threatened to throw down if they weren't released. Eventually the kids were let out later that day, but were weakened by the excessive amount of time forced in the anti muta walled rooms. The rest of the day was left in silent loathing, but just about everyone was wondering why Dean Makarov didn't do anything about it.

I was just as confused as anyone else even though I knew the reason behind why the Watchers were there. Me. Because of my involvement with the Burst of Lucy Heartfilia. They were here to silence me, but it made no sense for them to involve anyone else. Until Gray, the only other person with knowledge of the Burst, approached me on the tenth day while we were in our dorm. That night when I sat alone in my bedroom staring and the dark heavy clouds moving in, Gray had knocked on my door and walked in before I answered. He looked at me troubled and concerned, what about other than the obvious I wasn't sure. But Gray had always been a cool-headed person for as long as I've known him unless provoked with a fight, so seeing him so bothered was a little unsettling.

"Natsu." He spoke first, starting in a grave voice right off the bat. "We need to talk." Turning around in my office chair, I crossed my legs and gave him my full attention.

"Shoot." I nodded toward him. Gray nodded back and walked in, shutting the door behind him and sitting himself down on my bed.

"You said these weird spies-"

"Watchers." I corrected.

"Right, watchers, showed up after the incident with Lucy Heartfilia, correct?"

"Yeah." I confirmed nodding my head.

"So, do you think it's possible that the occupation is some type of security measure?" Gray asked me, thinking that I'd be able to confirm it or not, when I didn't know what was going on either.

"I doubt it, I only spoke with Dr. Marson twice, and that was enough to know that that woman has no care in her heart for mutants, she would never try and protect us."

"Then why are they here?"

I don't know, that's what I'm trying to figure out."

The next day, as heavy rain poured down around them, another energy surge occurred, this time turning the landscape within a fifteen mile radius into a frozen snowy tundra, a complete flip from their mid-spring weather. The panic raged more fiercely than before, with students and staff alike turning on the Watchers, while others turned on the ice and snow mutants. Violence broke out by noon and people on both sides were injured from the scurry and fighting. A freshman named Eve had gotten his arm broken and another, Lyon, had gotten a broken leg. Gray managed to avoid any serious injuries with the help of his girlfriend Juvia, but he had ended taking a bit of a beating before matters were able to be softened. By seven o'clock the majority of the physical fighting had ended, but the school had turned to shambles. Dean Makarov had openly helped tend to the injured and put down the fighting, but he too faced accusations for not doing anything to stop it sooner.

The worst of it had come at nine o'clock when the sun set and temperatures had begun to drop rapidly. The heating systems, along with all of the power, had been shocked and ice had begun to take over the walls. Everyone ran to there rooms to grab any extra clothing they could use, along with blankets and coats. Students had momentarily decided to call a truce between each other to help everyone make it through the storm. I, along with other fire related mutants, worked to keep everyone warm, meaning we got no sleep. Blankets were piled on top of each other in stacks and we eventually ended up staying in the cafeteria as to share body heat. But even with all our efforts, we could not stop the ice from penetrating the interior of the building. So we focused all of our power on keeping those around us warm.

Late at night, or in the early morning, on the twelfth day, when all but the fire mutants were asleep, a figure cloaked in black winter clothes appeared behind me. I Instantly recognized Dr. Marson's second hand man. He nodded and me to follow him, so I did with no resistance, slipping away quietly so no one would see me leave. I strode behind him to the damaged eastern hall, ice cold wind blew against me, finding its way through holes and cracks in the walls and windows. Setting my body on fire, I warmed myself up, as well as provided light for my darkened path. When we stopped I noted that it was the library doors we were about to enter. Stepping in I saw Dr. Marson sitting alone at one of the tables, her small area illuminated only by a candle. She, too, was clothed in heavy winter clothes.

"Natsu Dragneel. Glad you could make it." She said in her usual sweet voice. I grimaced at it, sensing the sick, twisted tone beneath it.

"I get the feeling I didn't have much of a choice." I spoke. Marson didn't reply, just smiled, and that sent shivers down my spine. Being shoved in the back by her lackey, I made my way over and took a seat across from her.

"Mr. Dragneel. I'm sure you've noticed by now the state of your school caused by my men?" She asked in a soft, but deadly sharp hum.

"How could I not?" I glared at her coldly with a growl in my voice, my hands twitching in irritation. "My friend is injured because of this." Marson didn't seem to be affected at the news that people were injured because of her actions, only smiled. It then dawned on me that she knew this was going to happen all along, that she had actually planned this.

"Then you must know the reason behind it." The doctor acknowledged with a joyful clap of her hands. "Your incessant interest in my subject and refusal to stop your pursuit has forced my hand to take drastic measures to stop you."

My anger raised by her lack of concern and worry and overjoyed attitude at the news of injured students. I had already known this woman was twisted, but this was just disgusting.

"You call this drastic measures? This is insanity!"

Dr. Marson chuckled lightly and closed her eyes. "Sometimes the business calls for a few screws to become loose." The woman opened her eyes again, mania clear as crystal in them. "My dear Natsu, all this drama will stop if you simply stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

I felt my heart fall for a slight moment, feeling guilt that his actions had caused these storms, but I quickly snapped myself out of it. It wasn't me who had caused all of this to happen, it was her.

"And what happens if I keep it there?" I challenged.

She gave me a dangerous stare, accompanied by a manic smile. "People will die tonight. Your feeble attempts to keep everyone warm will fail. One by one the mutants here will freeze to death."

I felt my blood run frigid, no pun intended to the raging ice outside.

"And what about you? Won't you die as well?"

"I have my ways to avoid this storm. But you, however, do not. So what will it be?"

"Fine." I muttered with a bit-back tongue. "I'll stop pursuing Lucy Heartfilia."

"Good, wasn't that easy?" She giggle like child, which was slightly more terrifying. But soon her smile had faded away completely, and her eyes shone nothing but death and danger."Mr. Dragneel." She said in warning. "Remember that if you break this promise, everyone around you will die."

With those last words lingering heavy in the air, Dr. Marson stood up from her seat, and walked out of the library, her right hand man not far behind. I watched as she went, closing the door and leaving me alone in the near darkness. Sighing I decided to get up as well, needing to get back to the others and help keep them warm. Reaching to blow out the candle a small glimmer caught my eye, looking over to the back right corner of the book shelves I saw a tiny reflective shine, but as soon as I turned my gaze on it, it disappeared. Shrugging it off I turned and walked for the door, igniting myself in fire to keep my body heat high to combat the cold air.

Though as I walked back, I noticed that the ice in the halls had begun to retreat back outside and the wind had begun to calm. By the time I made it back, all the ice had left the inside of the academy, and the snowstorm outside, which had previously been a whiteout, was snow just a small flutter of snowflakes falling gracefully. Those awake stared in awe at the beauty of it, some adults quickly ran to the breaker and turned the power back on, putting the heater on full blast.

In the morning, when everyone warmed up, students began to go out into the strange wonderland. The young children were the first to play, bursting out their sleds and build snow men and making snow angels. The other older children began to play, along with some teens, though most of still didn't trust it as it had come out of nowhere and had almost killed us.

By evening of that same, almost all of the Watchers had left, except Marson's close lackey, but he stayed out of sight. The older teens and staff were unnerved by their sudden disappearance. Coming out of nowhere and leaving all the same. Although I knew the reason, I still didn't like it either.

Leaving the other students I went and headed for the eastern wing, but stopped mid step when I remembered the dangerous threat of the deaths of everyone here if I were to try and continue my pursuit. It pained me, but I changed my course and went back to my room, deciding to sleep. Without the ability to 'see' her anymore, and his favorite place to be destroyed from the earthquake, there was really nothing for me to do anymore except catch up on sleep.

The next day, the fourteenth, everything was tense but normal. We all tried to continue on as we had before the chaos, but too many people were shook by what happened and wanted answers. No violence broke out, but it seemed like a deep anger was brewing and future mobs were being created. The dean still stayed quiet as to why this was happening or if he had any involvement.

I, myself, felt strangely, empty. I don't know exactly why, but the threat and forbidden sta-watching weighed heavily on me. Even with all my friends it wasn't the same, there was a puzzle piece missing. Miss Lucy Heartfilia. The one puzzle piece the manufacturing company always seems to forget to put in the box so you have to go forever without it. I wanted to find it and complete the picture. I wanted to get to know her and be apart of her strange life, and maybe have her be apart of mine to.

Then as I walked through the halls slowly, with a depressing step, I saw her. Miss Lucy Heartfilia. Walking down her mystery schedule. Just then I felt the skip return to my step as I watched her walk towards me down the hall. And just like I expected her too, she walked past me with not a single glance. I felt my heart warm again, her air of mystery only seemed to attract me once again and I don't know if I can keep myself away.

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Hey guys I'm back! Yesterday was my birthday and I turned 17! I had tons of fun, but I was also away from my computer for a long time so I couldn't get this chapter out to you on my birthday. But I hope y'all enjoyed as much as I enjoy writing it! Oooooo I'm so excited for it to get more interesting!

Well see you as soon as I can, homework, school, and life tend to get in the way, but I'll do my best not to keep you guys waiting for too long.

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	4. Invisible Light

I tried to return to my pre-Lucy discovery life, but the endeavor proved too much, I can't even call it my 'normal' life anymore because a life that was surrounded with her as it's main center had become the new norm after these four weeks, even when she disappeared for half of it, or could only be seen at specific intervals of time during the day at a set location I just happened to learn. The idea of simply just being with my friends everyday after classes screwing off and playing games sounded torturous.

The first day after swearing I had promised stay away I had managed to just get off with staring as she passed me by, but the next day I felt the urge to talk to her, even though I never had the courage to before. With each passing day of seeing her in the halls only during passing time I started to loose my sense of logic. I remembered the warning, I knew that Miss Lucy Heartfilia was a forbidden treasure; but seeing that beautiful blond hair, conservative clothing leaving everything to the imagination, and her mysteriously dead, blank eyes only peeked my curiosity even more. I need to know her and who she is.

When I woke up today I decided that I had had enough. I wasn't going to stay away.

I went up to a classmate of mine who I believed could help me with my goal during my physics class third period. Just because we're mutants doesn't mean we don't learn normal academic subjects as well, some humans were ignorant about that and thought we didn't learn anything when we're sent to this "special school" except how to fight.

Striding over to his lab table during our laboratory session I tapped on his shoulder to get his attention, then waved at Levy, who was his lab partner.

"Hey Freed can I talk to you for a bit? If that's okay with you Levy." I said, turning my attention between the two of them.

"Yeah that's fine." Levy smiled at him. "Just don't take too long."

"Thanks." I nodded to her and took Freed into the hallway to enlist his help.

The darkness of night covered my trail and kept me hidden from prying eyes who would want to stand in my way. Five days had passed since I had come to a bitter agreement with Dr. Marson after she threatened to tear the school apart. Ever since that the watchers had left the premises, well, all except one. Marson's right hand man had refused to leave and instead went into disguise as a regular security guard. I can only imagine that Marson had him do this to continue to keep tabs on me, stopping me from starting up my regular watching session again.

Which brings us to why I'm out of my dorm past curfew in the middle of the night at the direct spot and time gap between guard shifts so no one can see I'm setting up cameras in the hall for no important reason but to watch a certain blond as to try and figure out her schedule and add on to my observation journal dedicated to her. Yeah, nothing too important.

Anyways, I figured if I couldn't watch her directly, I'd have to get more creative in how I see her. That, and I'm also worried for her and curious about her connect to Dr. Marson.

Attached the fourth camera to the wall behind a poster, I finished setting up the equipment at every key path of her known routine class route. Now, whenever Miss Heartfilia passed by one of these cameras, I'll be notified on the control panel disguised as a cell phone. I had a classmate of mine, Freed, a techno-path and mind reader, set this up for me in return for a favor. It wasn't at all crazy.

With my work done, I walked away from the now hidden camera and back down the hallway to head back to my dorm. Outside the large windows, the clouds blanketing the night sky cleared for a moment, thus bringing in the light of the gibbous moon into the hallway. From the corner of my peripheral I saw a shining light. Afraid it was a security guard, I turned around quickly. There was no one there, but the light seemed to dodge behind the hallway corner. From what I could see before it did so, the light looked to be like a reflection through some sort the glass or prism, forming the shape of a body. I wanted to walk over and get a closer look, but the clouds took over the moon, and the sky went dark again. The strange light disappeared and I failed to locate it again with my poor night vision.

Seeing no point in searching for something I can't see, I decided I go back to my dorm and get a few more hours of sleep before tomorrow today.

The first thing I did once the classes of the day were over was check the control panel for footage of the day. I couldn't during the day without raising suspicion so I had to wait until now. Thirteen hours later it was four in the evening, break time before dinner was going on, and I was searching through the camera screens. As I had hoped, each camera had caught footage of her throughout the day. I watched her movements as she went to her lunch, the library, and down a hall in the southeastern hall, which still retained damage from the earthquake. In the footage it showed her walk down the long hall and turn the left, to another hall that led to Marson's office and the restricted area. Marson had called Miss Lucy her subject, but what did that mean? What did Miss Lucy Heartfilia have to do with Marson?

I wanted to place a camera in that hall, but I also know that getting closer to Marson will only raise the alarms. This time my curiosity didn't win out. I had to lay low.

Turning around to go have my dinner in the cafeteria, my eyes found those of another student standing down the hall, heading on their way to the library. Her eyes were dull, oh how I would love to see them softer and full of life. They were the eyes of Miss Lucy Heartfilia herself. I stood there, she stood there. Neither of us moved, nor did we speak or blinked, just stared at each other. She was the first to break that gaze, walking away from me in the opposite direction. I didn't follow after her, it didn't seem right to.

The next day after.

Looking through footage of random students on camera one and two I was able to get a shot of her on camera two in the northeastern hall at 11:50 heading back from her early lunch, somehow camera one in the cafeteria didn't catch her while she was eating, it somehow blanked out for fifteen minutes. Switching to camera three I noticed that no film had been taken all day, same occurrence with camera four. The only camera left untouched by this strange phenomenon was camera number two, which was hidden behind a hallway lamp.

I scratched my head in puzzlement, it wasn't like any of Freed's creations to malfunction. The only possible explanation for what's happening to the cameras is that an outside party is hijacking my cameras. Scrolling back through the film I noted that camera three and four had been turned off shortly after midnight. No footage could point to what could have turned them off. If I wanted to find out what was doing this I'd have to wait for the cover of night to check the cameras, too many prying eyes could be alive during the day, but I kept this occurrence fresh in my mind all day so when it came to curfew, I would remember to sneak out.

Later that night, when I went to check the malfunctioning cameras, avoiding both watchers and security alike, I found something truly peculiar. All the camera had been turned to stone. Indeed, the tech Freed had made for me had been rendered completely useless, not by system failure, a faulty memory card, or a broken lens, but because of something completely out of the ordinary. Which means it had to have been done by a mutant.

"Who could've turned my cameras into stone?"

"I did." A voice, soft as bricks, sounded from behind me. I spun around, fearing I had been caught, but was left dumbfounded when I was met with no body to match the voice. But through the darkness I could see a shimmer, the look of a reflective light hovering in the space of the hallway, accompanying me.

"Who are you?" I asked the strange floating light, the same light I had seen multiple times from the corner of my eyes. Suddenly the light began to morph and take shape, no longer glowing, instead the shimmer was replaced with a human form. My eyes became locked with two beautiful and enchanting irises. My breath failed me and my lungs could find no more to replace the air that had left, as I, in this timeless moment, forgot about the need to breath, as all I could see was her. Oh how I wanted to voice my thoughts, to talk to her in the most unknowingly forbidden conversation ever. To just simply exchange pleasantries, nothing else could compare to me then hearing her long silenced voice. So entranced in her presence was I that I failed to noticed I was staring at her oddly, until she pointed it out.

"Please don't stare at me like that." She spoke again. Even if she was telling me off, her words was like a magical symphony in my ears. I managed to snap those thought out of my head and pulled myself together and respond to her.

"Sorry…" I said breathlessly, that one word being the only thing I could manage at this moment. The surprise had been too great.

Miss Lucy Heartfilia then went over to the camera that was mounted on the wall, this had caused her to come closer to me, making me freeze up and turn stiff, not knowing what to do. Yet she ignored me and took the now stone camera into the palms of her gloved hands. Wrapping her fingers around the device she enclosed it with her hands, then opened her hands, revealing something truly amazing. The camera was no longer stone, but was back to normal.

"How did you do that?" I asked in amazement. Miss Heartfilia did answer, nor did she meet my eyes, instead she just stared at her own hands.

"I will give this back to you, but only if you say you'll break all ties to me." She stated, holding the camera out to me as if it were a treaty I needed to sign. I looked up from the camera to her face, holding her cold, serious gaze I found myself smiling. I finally found my courage to speak.

"No can do." I told, my voice light with a twinge of joy. Miss Heartfilia narrowed her eyes at me, but not in a critical way.

"And why is that?"

I chuckled, she raised an eyebrow. I couldn't help but feel giddy- we're having a conversation! Like, actually talking to one another! If it wasn't for me not wanting to gain undesirable attention I'd shout for joy.

"Because I wanna know you." I told her.

"You don't want to." She said back, almost like a command.

"Yes I do-"

"Trust me." She interjected. "You don't." For the first time since our first official meeting right before The Burst, her eyes showed emotion. Last time it was fear, this time it was sadness. Those gorgeous eyes that were usually left a brown void only seemed to know the existence of negative emotions. I was wondrous to why that is. What had caused her this pain? That's what I wanted to find out, so I could help her heal. I wanted to help her, know her, and be near her. I wanted to be her friend.

"I do." I declared in a momentous tone. Miss Lucy Heartfilia looked up at me, that sadness still there, but also fear. Her silence spoke louder than the Seattle Seahawk's home stadium filled to the brim with fans at the XLVIII Super bowl, so many emotions were crossing through her eyes that it put the emotion of death of Boromir to shame, and yet she looked as emotionless as a serial killer. She said nothing else and turned away, shifting and becoming invisible except for a faint light.

"If you will not stay away, then I will." She voiced as her unseen form went away from where I was standing. I watched the light go, a small grin on my face despite the fact that she just said she was now avoiding me.

"Challenge accepted."

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For some reason this chapter was really tedious to write. It just seems too plain but I don't know how to make it better, oh well. Yes, Natsu is a creep.

Just so you know, I estimate this story to be about 12 chapters long, maybe 14, just because the main plot takes place over the span of a little more than two months, and one month has already passed. I have nothing else to say but the fact that both Natsu and Lucy will be very OOC (ha, when are they not in my stories?) So I apologize if some of you guys don't like that about this story.

((The Seahawks fans are the loudest in the U.S.(they actually created a earthquake))

 _ **The More You Know**_

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	5. Invisible Becomes Visible

"I know you're there." Miss Lucy said in a loud whisper without looking up from her book, keeping the fact that she was talking from any possible prying eyes, except for me.

"What gave me away?" I asked, not coming out from my hiding spot in the shadows of the library.

"Your radiating too much muta. I can sense it in the air. You better calm yourself down." She replied as she turned the page of the book in her hands. I thought about responding with a snarky comeback, but decided against it, she was right, if I let out too much muta I could either drain myself of energy or alert someone else of my presence in the library after hours.

I had been doing this for three weeks now, following Miss Lucy after hours every other day around the academy grounds. When she showed discomfort from my cameras I agreed to take them down, but that didn't stop my pursuit. Nothing could. In the time that I had spent with Miss Lucy, even though conversation was not common, I had learned a great deal about her just from observation. For one, I know now she likes to sneak out of wherever her dorm is pretty much every night to read in the library after hours. Her favorite books to read are about the world be it atlases, tour guides, or history textbooks, Miss Lucy seemed to love reading about the outside world. Next, it seemed that she didn't have a large variety of clothes, as I've only seen her wear four different articles of clothing in the past 21 days, all of which covered her skin completely besides her face. I've never seen her take off her gloves once, but I never asked her straight out. I've learned that she doesn't like to talk about herself, if we ever talked at all.

For the whole of the first week I followed her around, she refused to talk to me, still trying to convince me to leave her alone. But of course I didn't let up, but I did at least respect her boundaries and keep at a distance. I'd try to talk to her almost every night, ask how she is, what book she's reading, and other meager conversation starters that never went anywhere. Finally after seven days, she spoke to me, even if she told me to get lost. After that she would talk to me every time we met, telling me to leave her alone. It was enough for me (man am I a creeper or what?). Five days later Miss Lucy finally stopped in me following her to the library for her nightly reading, me following five feet behind, and at last questioned me.

"Why do you follow me?" She inquired, her voice hushed for night time.

"Because I find you interesting." I told her honestly. Miss Lucy made some sort of snort and turned away from me, looking out the window at the night sky.

"Yes you said something like that already." She responded in recollection.

"Well it's true."

"But why though?" She pushed further looking back to me, as if she was desperate for answers.

I turned my gaze to the moon as I thought about it. I didn't have an answer, not a good one anyway. What was that drew me to her other than her air of mystery? Was that all there is too her? I don't know, but as I have said, I want to.

"I want to know you." I finally answered after a long pause. I looked away from the night to look over at the apple of my eye. She looked confused, and even slightly scared. For what reasons were still unknown, she always so hesitant about everything, careful, her unknown fear constantly holding her back. If I could, I would go over to her and give her a large hug and tell her not to be scared.

Minutes passed between them until Miss Lucy finally continued down the hall, not speaking to me for the rest of the night, but also never telling me to leave her alone. That was the last night she had ever told me that again.

I sat perched on top of a bookshelf in the corner of the room, hidden by shadows. The only light in the massive room was from the small candle on the table by Miss Lucy's chair. My ears perked up when I heard movement by the window. Looking over I saw the small figure of an animal in the window, bathed in a silver-blue color in the moon. A cat!

"Hey Miss Lucy look!" I said in a loud whisper, not wanting to gain any attention from the night guards. Miss Lucy looked up from her book, staring into the darkness in confusion since she still didn't know where I was hidden. "Look at the window!" I directed her.

She looked over at the window and saw what I saw. The cat was sitting on the outside window sill peering in at them. When the cat saw that it had both of their attention it meowed at them, pawing at the glass.

"Is that… a cat?" She asked curiously as she went over to it.

"Yep." I said as I climbed down and walked over to join her. Now with both of us in front of it the kitty pawed at the glass some more, seeming to want to come inside. Miss Lucy leaned down to be at eye level with the feline, staring at it with shock and wonder. It was kinda cute.

"Haven't you ever seen a cat before?" I asked with an amused grin. Miss Lucy looked down in embarrassment, her face now a slight pink; yet I couldn't help but notice the sad, almost ashamed, look in her eyes. I mentally slapped myself in the face for being so stupid.

"I-I'm sorry! It's perfectly normal to have never seen a cat before!" I said hastily, trying to make her feel better, but she raised her hand at him, telling him to stop.

"It's okay." She looked up back at the cat. "There is a great many things I don't know about the world."

What she said surprised me greatly as I turned to her in shock. This was the first time she had ever told me anything about herself. The first time. Ever. (Okay I know we've only been 'speaking' for three weeks, but it's been two months since I became fascinated with her. THIS IS A BIG DEAL!)

"Well why don't we let the cat in, it must be cold outside. We are in the mountains after all." I said to her with a confident smile as I went over to open the window. Miss Lucy took a step back as I got closer, always wanting to keep at least a foot of distance between them. When I lifted the window up I held out a hand for the kitty to come inside, but instead the cat decided to jump down from the small ledge and run off towards the gardens.

"Crap." I cursed under my breath as the cat took off. Miss Lucy sighed as she watched it go. "Well don't just stand there, let's go after it!" I told her as I climbed my way through the first story window.

"B-but I'm not aloud outside the building!" She said to him as he began to let himself down to the ground.

"Common, we're just going to the gardens twelve feet away." I took off after the cat to make sure it didn't get away. I faintly heard her call "-Wait!" as I took off, but I was more focused on getting the cat for her, if she didn't want to come out that was fine, I'd just bring to her instead. But when I heard a loud thump, I turned back and saw that Miss Lucy had fallen into the bushes outside the window.

"Are you okay, Miss Lucy?" I called as I ran back, forgetting to be quiet.

"I'm okay." She replied as she stood and left the bushes. "I've just never climb out a window before. Do you do this often?"

"Nah, but I used to do it all the time when I was a child." I said. "Now let's look for that cat." The exact moment after I said that a meow sounded from below and I felt something brush up against my leg.

"Looks like…he, came came back to us." I stated after check for gender. I looked to Miss Lucy and held him out to her.

"Oh no, I shouldn't." She said shaking her hands in front of herself.

"Common, he's super fluffy." I urged her, holding out the feline further.

"Really, I can't."

I shrugged and took the cat back into my arms. Looking at him closer now I could see that his fur really was blue. How peculiar.

"What should we name him? Happy would be a good name… Miss Lucy"

Miss Lucy walked slowly over to the gardens, mesmerized by the flowers, plants, and ponds bathed in the light of the moon. She crouched over by some lilies, morning glories, and sunflowers. Gently she leaned over to smell their fragrance and instantly a smile came to her face. Tonight was a night of firsts because that was the first time I've ever seen her smile as well. It made me smile as well. Walking over I sat next to her, putting Happy into my lap. We were quiet for a few moments as she took her time to behold the beauty around her.

"I've always just seen it from the window." She breathed out. "But it's much prettier up close."

"Most things are." I responded.

She glanced at me, her expression was an enigma, yet a small smile came to her face, her eyes shone beautifully with a light look of happiness in her chocolate brown eyes of hers.

"I suppose so." She said softly. Lucy reached out to touch a lily, but the second she did the white flower turned into water and fell down to the garden dirt. My mouth opened in shock and a look of dismay covered her face. Sighing gloomily she sat back and looked at her hands with a sort of despair.

"My glove is torn." She said sadly, holding herself in her arms. "This always happens." Miss Lucy buried her head in her knees and began to shudder in her spot.

"What always happens? What did you do?" I asked, taking a bold leap. Miss Lucy lifted her head and continued to stare at her hands.

"I always reconstruct whatever I touch." She confessed, tears pricking at her eyes.

"Reconstruct?" I echoed her.

"That's my power, I break down the atoms in an object and reconstruct their code into becoming an entirely new element. For example I could turn a tree into a block of ice, or turn a lake into boiling lava."

"I've never heard of that ability before, that's kinda cool."

"It'd be 'cool' if I could control it. That's why I wear mutacloth clothing, that way I can touch stuff without totally changing their elemental compounds."

"Well at least you have potential, when you've grown to control your powers I'm sure you'll be able to help a lot of people," I gave her a pep talk to try and cheer her up from being so gloomy. "The only thing I can do is set things on fire." I chuckled a bit at the end. Miss Lucy giggled a bit as well.

"Well I'm sure you can help plenty as well." She told me.

"Yeah, the next time your oven breaks, call me."

We laughed, then the moment passed, the air becoming serious again.

"You said you wanted to know me, but why? Why am I special?" She questioned me.

"You know I haven't figured that out yet either." I leaned back to lay on my back and look at the stars. "Ever since I saw you that day in the library when I came to get my notebook I've just been taken by you." I looked over at her. "You interest me."

"I don't see why though." She frowned.

"Sometimes we have more to offer than we think, and what we dislike most about ourselves can be someone else's favorite thing about us. You have plenty to offer Miss Lucy." I held out and hand to her, though I knew she wouldn't take it. "Perhaps you could offer me your friendship?"

Miss Lucy looked between me and my hand, probably debating his proposal in her head. At last she finally nodded, a slight curve at the edge of her mouth in what was almost a smile.

"Okay, but only for the month, and just Lucy if fine. The whole 'Miss' thing is weird"

"Sure thing," I grinned like a mad man as I set my hand down. "Lucy." Her name sounded sweet on my lips. Be it one month or eternity, I was glad I could be with her like this.

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So… it's been awhile hasn't it. Sorry for that, I got caught up in other things and school. (I finally have a social life now) I'll try to continue to post as regularly as well, but hey, a review would really help. Seriously though, reviews are the most important thing to me (But for the love of fanfiction stop posting meaningless review of single words or just . who comments . anyway? That's not even a word! (i'm talking about the period mark, spam will be removed and reported.)

Just so you know this fanfic is going to be less than ten chapters long, shorter than my other NaLu stories I know but it's hard to draw out the plot without pointless filler. I hope my pacing is okay though. See y'all later!

(I'll also have very few timeskips for now on, at the most they'll only skip a few days to progress the plot)

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	6. Invisible Wounds

Three days had passed since the night in the garden, and since then I hadn't been able to get my mind off of Lucy's powers. In those three days as they talked in the library, I was always able to detect a distaste and almost hatred of her powers whenever they came into conversation. In fact she had even mentioned that she held all the blame on how her life turned out on her own powers. Lucy often talked about how she always wanted to go on adventures and write a book about them since she was young, but never had the chance since she was taken away from society as a threat when she was seven, ten years ago. She never once left the academy since.

When I heard this I wanted to be able to do something for her, so she would feel such anger at her own gift. Then one night while we were talking in the library, I had suggested something on the spot without even thinking before the words had left my mouth.

"How about I teach you to control your powers?" I had said from out of the blue. Lucy had immediately turned to look at him in utter shock; as if that was the most ludicrous thing she had ever heard.

"I can't be taught." She said matter-of-factly, "I've had five different mutant teachers before they finally gave up on me last year, and I accidentally hurt three of them."

"My favorite teacher, Mr. Clive, always says that the best teacher you could have is yourself, because you're the only one who has your individual gift. I won't actually be teaching you per say, I'll only be there to couch you and offer encouragement."

Lucy looked down at her lap, hugging the whole of her body closer to herself, curling up in a tight ball, resting her head in her knees. Her face was that of a solemn despair, as if she had lost all hope long ago. I thought to myself on how I could possibly persuade her, and then I came to a swift realization.

"Lucy, how is it that you make yourself invisible?" I asked.

"Huh?" She raised her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"When we first spoke, you appeared and disappeared without me being able to see you. How did you do that?"

"I… turned my body and clothes into glass." She replied puzzled to what I was getting at.

"And how did you manage to survive having your organs turning into glass?" I continued, hoping she'd she my point, and she did as she spoke slowly.

"Well… I trained for... years until I was able to…" The realization finally hit her. She already did have a level of control over her powers, but it was her fear that let it get out of hand.

"You see Lucy, if you can train yourself to turn into glass and live, then you'll surely be able to learn control. The first step to mastering your powers is accepting them. So my first order as your new couch is for you to accept the powers you were given."

And that's where our miniature training in the library after hours began. Lucy was neverable to grow a liking for her powers, but after a few days she was able to at least accept that they were the ones she was born with,thus making her the individual, privileged owner. We took baby steps at control, starting with simply turning a piece of paper into something else, a pencil, I had decided, since they both came from trees. For a bit it wouldn't change at all, Lucy had been too nervous of losing control that she couldn't focus her powers, so I showed her breathing exercises and simply stretches that were meant to calm the body and mind. I am proud to say that I didn't stare at

her form for too long.

As I had hoped, these exercises were enough to calm her mind, so I resulted into coaching her into meditating on her own powers to change the object. I didn't have a power anything near hers, but I often saw other students use meditation as a way to practice control and casting. At first she kept accidentally morphing part of the table along with the paper, so, to not let it discourage her, I would have her reform the table out of the paper or pencil.

One week into our practicing, Lucy was able to disassemble an entire lamp, and form it into a stone statue on command, though it took her several minutes of meditation in order to do it. I had felt so proud. Since our first meeting my sleep schedule had become wonky, as I stayed up past midnight every night just, in a totally normal and healthy way,

watched Lucy from afar. But now that we actually started talking, becoming something that resembled friends, I've been even less and less amounts of sleep. Especially after I started to help her train. I tried to hide it from my other friends at first, saying that I had just been gaming up at late hours, or saying that I was too awake or had homework to take care of. In a way it was homework. Whenever I was away from Lucy, I would often think of new ways to motivate her, or different practices for her. Most everyone didn't question me beyond that, Erza always looking skeptical of my excuses for the deepening bags under my eyes and my lack of attention in and out class. However, it was Gray that I had the hardest time convincing, as he knew about my obsession- I mean interest in Lucy Heartfilia. Still, Gray thought I was just having a hard time getting over her; he had no idea that I was seeing her pretty much every single night, and I'd like to keep it that.

This isn't something that concerned him. Even so, my delayed reactions and sluggishness caused him even more worry and suspicion past that of late night moping. The sudden appearance of my new cat Happy was the hardest thing to explain. Most everyone didn't really believe me when I said I saw him walking around the gardens even though that was the actual truth, and his blue fur only caused for more curiosity and questions, so I just told them I wasn't sure where he came from or why he was blue. Gray wasn't too keen on bringing the cat into or dorm, as we weren't allowed to have pets, but also because he was worried the cat was going to lead to some kind of endangerment. I simply called him out for being too paranoid and brought the cat in anyway.

However the hardest thing in all of this was seeing Lucy in passing in the the urge to walk over to her was near torturous. Just as she did in the past, she didn't pass me as much as a glance, not a single form of acknowledgement whatsoever. And that somehow made me even more riled up.

Gray would sometimes see these looks of longing, which would only cause him to narrow his eyes at me with suspicion. I would play it off as best I could like nothing was going on, but keeping my eyes away from her radiant form was more difficult than it seemed.

That night, tonight, only a few hours prior, I had waited for the shadows of night time to rise and give me cover. My usual escape time was fromeleven thirty to midnight, as the guard post changed for those thirty minutes, making the southeast hall leading to the library deserted of any security. This as well as it was past Gray's bedtime, being the freak he is and going to sleep at ten thirty almost every night. Making now the ideal time to escape. I crept out of my room and stalked quietly through our dorm, Happy in my arms as he usually was, almost making it past the living room into the hallway that lead to the front door, but was caught off guard when the lights were suddenly flipped on, exposing me. I hastily turned around, a deer in the headlights, and came face to face with Gray, who had apparently been sitting in one of the lounge chairs the entire time.

"Hey, Natsu." He said sarcastically, "Where are you going at this hour?"

Up until now I never thought I would be caught, so I didn't have anything to say as an excuse this time. There was no logic behind him leaving at this hour. They had a mini fridge with food, a bathroom, and a TV with agaming console, there was no reason for him to leave the dorm.

"Um… I'm uh… going on a walk." I answered haphazardly unsure what

else to say.

"Mhmm." Gray hummed, causing me to fidget in my spot, knowing that I had finally been caught red handed. The ice wielder across from him didn't say anything for a couple moments, instead he just stared and drank in my image (oh my gosh that sounds wrong, forget that), making me feeling even more guilty (that makes it sound worse).Eventually he breathed a sigh and got up from his arm chair, and walked over to me putting his hands on both my shoulders.

"Natsu, you know you can tell me anything right? Since when did we start lying to each other?" He asked, looking a little hurt.

"I'm sorry Gray, but this doesn't involve you." I winched at my own words, but it was for the best that I don't let him interfere. He just doesn't understand what I'm feeling.

"This has to do with that Lucy Heartfilia girl, doesn't it." Gray stated as a fact, not a question. I didn't bother to answer him, he figured it out, and so I turned my head to look at the wall. "Natsu that girl is dangerous. I told you that involving yourself with her will only get you hurt, or even worse." He warned me once again, worry and concern etched into his facial features. But I would not listen, I could never convince him to believe otherwise, and he'll never understand my reasons.

"Lucy would never hurt me, I half complete trust with her."

"First name basis now, huh? How much have you been allowing her to twist your mind?"

"She would never do such a thing! You could never understand my love for her, and you can't stop it."

"Love? Natsu this isn't love, this is an obsession!"

"No it's not! This is loyalty and dedication! If you would move

past your fear of her powers like I have, then you would be able to see what I

see in her."

"Natsu use your brain for once in your life! That girl has the mutant's crown, only those with enough power to destroy the entire planet have those, and that's only when they can't be killed. Think about it Natsu, that means that the government has already tried to put her down but failed to do so."

"Lucy never asked for her powers! If you stopped being such a punk bitch you would understand how much she's been suffering!"

Gray didn't say anything back, and remained silent in his then did I realize that we had been yelling at each other, hopefully not loud enough for anyone else to hear us. We let our words sink in, this fight different from any of their previous ones before. We had both gone too far, but said what we had to. I pushed myself past him, happy still in my arms, and I walked out without another word to my best friend.

When I closed the door I paused outside in the hallway for a moment and looked back at the door, considering going back and apologizing. But I stopped myself, knowing that I was right. Those in fear of the unknown can never discover its wonders.

'Tonight's the night.' I decided as I walked stealthily through the walls. After about a week and half of careful practicing I decided it was time for Lucy to take it a step further. She could now disassemble and reassemble the largest objects in the library, which means she needs larger targets, targets that were best found outside the school walls.

When I walked into the library I saw Lucy I our usual spot, waiting for me, and I made my way over to her. Sitting myself down across from her, I set down happy atop the table and asked her if she wanted to do just that, leave school grounds to train. The conversation went a little like this:

"Hey Lucy, how about we take our training outside the library. There's not much you can practice on in here anymore." I pointed out, gesturing to the whole of the library.

"But where would we practice? Guards are constantly watching the outside and halls, we won't be able to practice outside." She replied back.

"I know that, that's why we should go, outside the barrier wall." I said with a cheeky grin

" _What?_ Are you crazy?! Don't you know the punishment for leaving the school without permission?"

"Of course."

"Then why on Earthland would you suggest that?!" She screamed athim in a hushed voice.

"Because you haven't been outside this institution's walls for a decade, I want you to experience it again." I told her, my voice and eyes soft with earnest sincerity.

"This is so much bigger than even you realize. If you're caught outside with me, the punishment is worse than death… I can assure you that. The people keeping me here are nothing short of evil."

I thought back to Dr. Marson, the woman who referred to Lucy as her subject, not even as a living being. The loneliness, the experiments, the horror, I could only imagine what she went through for the most of her life, but I could never truly understand the way I want to. My blood burned with hot rage, the wood table underneath my hands starting to burn and cause smoke to rise. "Natsu calm down!" Lucy quickly placed her gloved fingertip on my hand to cancel out the flames, as to not trigger the fire alarm and alert anyone of their presence in the library. The flames I created were crystallized and turned into ice, but the ice crystals didn't stop there, and Lucy accidentally turned part of the tabletop into ice, as well as the very tip of my fingers, barely a millimeter worth; but enough to cause me pain. I wrenched my hand back and bit back a wail, clutching my hand to chest.

"Oh my gosh, Natsu I am so sorry! I- I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine Lucy." I cut her off, giving her the most confident grin I could muster, "You were just trying to help, and I overreacted."

"Y-yeah, but…" She murmured, unsure of herself. I saw her look back at her hands in fear, I knew what she was thinking, and I couldn't allow her to think it. I quickly slammed my hands over hers, making her jump in surprise. Her fear of what she could do cause her to do just that, and the ice began to spread from my fingertips and up my hands to my wrists agonizingly slow.

"Natsu! What are you doing?! Let go!" She demanded almost as a plea.

"Lucy, look at me." I commanded, to which she complied. "You can fix this. I've seen you do it, just relax and focus. I'll be alright."

"But I've never reversed what I've done on someone before, how will I know that you'll be fine?"

"I will be." Was all I said to calm her nerves. In truth, I was terrified as well, the feeling in my hands was starting to leave and go numb, but I couldn't let Lucy know that. She had to remain calm. Taking in a breath and letting it out slowly, I directed her with our breathing exercises, needing her to focus. Resting her nerves, Lucy turned back to our cupped hands and focused all of her power into reforming my blood vessels, muscle tissue, nerves, bones, skin, and even my finger nails. The reconstructing process was just as painful as the deconstructing process, and it felt ten times weirder.

This was the slowest Lucy had ever reconstructed something, but I knew it was to make sure she got everything perfect. It took maybe six minutes until she was finally done. She sheepishly removed her hands from mine, looking up at me with expectancy. I assessed my hands, my left was just fine, everything had been patched up fine, but my right hand was another story. If I hadn't bee looking right at it, I wouldn't have even known that it was there. I didn't feel it. Lucy seemed to catch on that something was wrong.

"Natsu? What is it?" She asked him, quickly becoming distressed as she noticed how limp and lifeless my hand was.

"Nothing that you can't fix." I smiled at her, again putting my full faith in her.

"But how can I if I caused it?" She questioned him hysterically.

"I hurt you… Oh Mavis, I _hurt_ you." She cried as she collapsed in on herself, falling to the floor in a ball.

Lucy, Lucy listen to me," I said as I crouched beside her, desperate for her not to lose control in her fear. Energy was starting to radiate from her; the air was thick with the smell of fear. I had to stop her before another burst happened. In a moment of desperation, I pulled Lucy's face from her knees and placed her lips on mine, kissing her. Lucy gasped into the kiss and tried to move away, but I wouldn't let her. Steadily her power began to dissipate and ebb away, at the same time she stopped trying to pull away, and instead leaned into the kiss, returning it back, making it mutual. When her power finally left the air is when I finally pulled away, breathing heavily. Lucy looked at me with shock and confusion, and I only smiled back.

"You can fix this Lucy, I have faith in you." I whispered to her. Lucy shook her head and stepped back, out of his grip.

"Y-you can't do this Natsu, we can't do this." She said down casted, turning her back to him. "If you fall in love with me you'll be killed."

"By who?"

"Me."

And with that, she walked away, leaving me alone in the library.

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Gasp! Tis that the story description I spy? For those who have been following my stories for a long time, this story sort of reminds me of Enemies or Something Else, just because Natsu and Lucy meet each other at night in a separate location. I feel like the pace is really fast. Is it? I've noticed that I've always been horrible to Lucy in my stories. She always has such a shit life, wonder why that is.

P.s, if I were to stop doing the Favorite Follow Review thing, would you guys notice? Just a question, but I've done it in every single one of my stories since my very first one. Well, see ya.

Favorite, Follow, Review~


	7. Invisible Capture

I hadn't gotten any sleep that night Lucy left, or any night for the next few days. Lucy refused to show at the library, but I still went in hopes she would appear. Eventually I would be forced to head back to my dorm and crawl into bed, but I was always too confused and conflicted to rest. I found myself lying down in bed, tossing and turning, as I tried to understand what Lucy had told me and what she was going through. However I was never able to come up with an answer that made sense to me.

Day after day I walked into class the feeling drifted and absent from my own mind. Three days, almost four had passed, and I didn't even see Lucy in the halls anymore. It was as if her entire presence was wiped away from the academy and had painted my entire world in greys, leaving me feeling empty.

Gray had been waiting for me when I arrived back that night she left me, sitting in his chair from before, looking suspicious, but concerned. He had asked me how it went, but by the way my voice sounded numb and void when I answered, he immediately stood up in concern. He continued to pester me about what happened, but I refused to give and turned in for the night, locking my door so he wouldn't bother me. However my actions only seemed to worry him even more and he kept a close eye on me over the next couple of days.

It didn't take long for him to notice that something was wrong with my hand. He first took note of it in first period the day after, but by lunch he was sure that something was amiss. Gray confronted me about it during lunch while we were sitting with all of our friends, purposefully out in the open so I couldn't hide the truth.

"So Natsu, since when did you eat with your left hand?" The ice mutant asked from his seat across from me. I looked up from where I had been absent-mindedly eating a plate of spaghetti pasta, awkwardly holding a fork in my left hand. Gray's question had brought the attention of all of our other friends to us, making a cheap answer hard to convince all of them.

"Turns out I'm ambidextrous." I replied simply, returning to my food as if the question was never asked.

"Really? Because you seem to be struggling an awful lot with holding your fork." Gray countered. Their friends around seemed to get a feeling that there was something going on between by the way they all tensed at the underline atmosphere.

"I don't think so." I disagreed, purposefully shoving a mouthful of noodles into my mouth to make a point.

"Earlier in class you were writing with your left hand as well." Gray added on, "I knew you had bad handwriting, but it was barely readable."

I felt my stomach plummet and threaten to regurgitate whatever food it contained. My palms became sweaty as glances were passed across the friend group. Their suspicion had been raised and I wasn't sure if I could bring them down.

"Natsu is this true?" Levy asked from her seat down near the end of the table next to Gajeel.

"What is going on?" Erza demanded from beside me.

All of their gazes turned on me, making me feel significantly smaller, there was no way I could answer their questions and make them believe without revealing the truth. Even if she had abandoned me, Lucy's life and power would not be betrayed by me.

"Well Natsu?" Gray asked when I remained quiet to all their questions, looking at me with such certainty and expectancy of an answer.

However I refused to betray my loyalty to Lucy and instead of answering, I grabbed Gray and pulled him up from the table and dragged him out of the cafeteria.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia called as her boyfriend was ripped away from her, followed with a couple hundred gazes following us before they returned to whatever they were doing before. Once we were out of the eyes and away from the ears of the other students, I stopped to confront my best friend.

"What was that about, ice fuck?" I questioned him in a loud voice.

"If you would just tell me what's going on then I wouldn't have had to do that, you piece of flaming shit!" He fired back and tried to grab my right arm, but I moved out of the way before he could.

"I told you I'm fine!" I bit back as I continuously stepped away, as he continuously stepped forward after me.

"No your not!" He denied and managed to grab onto my right wrist. I tried fight back but he pinned me and restricted my movement. I willed my right hand to stay up straight to make it look as if it was fine, but Gray saw that it was limp and useless. Putting his hand over mine he froze it into a solid block of ice. Usually that would hurt for only a small moment before I would melt the ice, however this time I couldn't feel my skin freeze at all, nor could I melt it.

"You can't feel it." Gray breathed in realization as he let go, backing away in a shocked stumble. "You're paralyzed."

"Only in my right hand, it noth-"

"Did _she_ do this to you?!" He seethed in contempt. I shook my head, not shaving the blame on her.

"I did." Which was the truth, I had grabbed her hands to calm her down knowing full well that she could lose control. I explained the situation and what happened, how I was the one who nearly caused a fire and scared her, then chose to reassure her by putting myself in danger. My choice, my fault. But Gray didn't see it the same way.

"Bull. Shit. She didn't heal you correctly on purpose. A power like hers shouldn't be restricted from healing someone right the first time." Gray retorted, still angry and unbelieving.

"She was nervous and scared, she just needs time." I defended, still a hundred percent sure that he intentions were pure, that she only needed help to control her powers.

"I've warned you about her before, but now I can't overlook this." His best friend said as he turned to walk away, "That girl is gonna get you killed."

"What are you gonna do?" I demanded.

"I'm gonna fix this."

That was two days ago and something had yet to happen, however I was still nervous for what was to come. Gray refused to talk to him, but still watched over him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. All of our friends now knew that Natsu could no longer move his right hand, but they do not know the reason why, Gray had kept that from them. They would ask both of us for answers but we would not give any. I could tell that they were frustrated, Erza and Juvia especially, but I refused to give away Lucy, Gray's reason to not telling I wasn't so sure.

However as the days went on I noticed something happened painstakingly slowly: the paralysis was spreading up my right arm. I first noticed it the third morning, when I could no longer feel the part of my body under my elbow, by the next day it was up to the midsection of my bicep. I did tell Gray, or anyone else for that matter. I don't know what was going on and I wouldn't admit it, not even to myself, but I was afraid of what would happen when it reached beyond my arm.

Yet I still refused to become angry with Lucy, for I knew that she did not cause this on purpose, nor mean any ill will.

Classes were about to end for the day, four days since Lucy once again disappeared, when the overhead com sounded and interrupted class.

 **"Would Natsu Dragneel please report to the security office. That's Natsu Dragneel to the security office."**

Immediately all heads turned towards his seat, some ooh'd and others looked on in concern. I ignored their comments and made my way out of class, grabbing my stuff since I probably wasn't going to be back before class ended.

Upon arrival to the security office I saw a figure waiting outside the door as well sitting on one of the waiting chairs. Gray. Seeing me approach the office Gray stood up, looking oddly thrilled for being at ends with me.

"Natsu, glad you could make it." Gray said in a near excited voice.

"What is this about Gray?" I questioned as I came to a stop in front of him. Gray smiled and slapped his hands over my back.

"I found someone who can help you." Gray told me, patting my back.

Just then the door to the security office opened, Gray stepped out the way to reveal that which he thought could save me. However, out stepped the one person whom he had sworn revenge upon for all that she had done, Dr. Marson.

"Natsu, let me introduce Secret Service Agent Danielle-"

"Marson." I finished for him. Marson stepped out of the office and into the hallway, her usual sickly sweet smile displayed on her face. Her faithful lackey followed her out and stood at her back, his expression dull as ever.

"Well Mr. Dragneel, I've been told that my subject has brought harm to you." She stated in a forthright voice, her tone as if this was our first meeting. Gray walked up behind me and patted my shoulder, but I did not feel it, smiling reassuringly at me. I looked between them, horrified, realizing that _she_ was the help that he had required.

"Everything is gonna be okay Natsu. Agent Marson knows how to reverse the effects of what happened to you." The ice mutant said confidently. Her lackey approached me, a needle in his hand: a sleeping agent.

"No Gray you don't understand! Marson is-" Too late, I was injected with a knockout drug, losing my grip on consciousness.

The last thing I saw what they helpful smile of my best friend, and the sadistic grin of my arch nemesis.

When I came to I had no idea where I was, or how much time had passed, all I saw was white and silver walls along with about a dozen technical machines. I, myself, was laying flat down on a titanium table, strapped down to it with metal restraints. I tried o turn my head to get a better look of the room, but I found that my head had been restricted as well.

"Well look who's up." A cheerful light voice sounded from the other side of the room. I could easily determine that voice as Marson's, which means I was in her laboratory.

'Does that mean Lucy's here as well?' I wondered as I continuously tried to look around.

"Are you sure you'll be able to cure his paralysis?" Gray's voice sounded from the same direction as hers. My eyes widened and I tried to shout out and call for him, but found that I could not make a sound, my voice was too strained and swelled, but I don't remember what from.

"Of course we can. However, it is rather serious, two days is not enough time, you'll have to wait longer." Dr. Marson's voice said to who he guessed was Gray.

Two days? Has he been here for forty eight hours? If so, he had no recollection of what had happened in that time, except for the swelling of his throat and horrible throb of his skull.

"I'm trusting him o you." Gray said, followed by the sound of foot steps walking away from the room. I tried again to call out to him, to warn him, but I could barely croak out his name. Once the sound of the door closing ended, I heard the sound of heals heading over to my table, and saw the body of Dr. Marson looming over.

"My my, looks like someone went against their word." She said with a lace of poison. Taking out a scalpel, she tore open what appeared to be a healing wound on my left arm. I screamed out in pain as she cut through my skin.

Looks like I was her new subject.

I wasn't sure how many hours passed by since I had woken up, but I figured it was around night time since everyone looked to be leaving the laboratory. I was transferred from my table to a wheelchair, my arms still strapped down and restrained, this time with leather, but I was too tired to bother trying to escape. Be it a guard or nurse, a man came pushed my wheelchair out of the lab and over to what looked like a prison ward. From his chair he could see into each on of the cages, some were empty, while others had sick and tortured looking animals in them. As I passed one cell, different from the others in both side and wall material, I saw a small girl sitting by herself on the floor, chains from above on the ceiling kept her arms suspended above her, while chains on the ground kept her feet down. Another line of chains connected with a large and thick brace around her neck kept her head down, forbidding her from looking up.

Lucy sat there on the ground of a solitary confinement cell, chained by every limb, looking hopeless. Her gloomy demeanor have off a sense of despair as she continuously looked down blankly at a single spot on the floor.

Finally seeing Lucy again after only six days just to discover that she had been living in suffrage and chains pulled at his heartstrings and punched me in the gut. I tried to call out for her, but just as it had with Gray, my voice came out barely more than a whimper.

"Lucy..." I whispered desperately, but was already being pushed past her cell and out of her sight. However, at the last moment that he had her in view, Lucy looked up and our eyes connected for just the briefest second. I could see the pure shock in her eyes as I passed, she obviously had never expected to see me here.

The view of Lucy looking so blank and helpless burned a fire in my belly, and created a roaring fire of rage in my blood as it boiled over. I wouldn't allow anyone to lay a hand in my Lucy any longer.

I swore right then and there that I would get out of this place, and would break us out of here, and free Lucy from her torment.

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Hey guys, sorry the update took so long to get her, I was visiting family and didn't have much time to write. Hope y'all liked the new chapter. More on the way!

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	8. Invisible Control

The first day had been bad, the days following afterwards had been much worse. The humans in black who worked on and tore me apart seemed to be after something, studying me purposefully with intent. Whatever it was they were looking for they found it on day two, and simply conducted experiments for the next three days. I practically lived on the lab table now, spending a usual of eighteen hours a day being tested on by different people conducting different experiments. Using previous knowledge about mutant anatomy, the scientists tested to whether or not they still held true to me.

Gray had visited on the second day, I could hear him but they would not let him in. I could tell he was irritated, but he listened, still believing that they were helping me. If he tried to visit again I wouldn't have known, as I was moved to a lower level to a more upgraded laboratory. I don't think they even let him past the front door after his first visit.

I could only pick up bits and pieces of what they were saying through my muffled screams, but one word seemed to appear more than the rest: mutagene. Whatever the scientist seemed to be taking an interest in it seemed to have to do with my mutagenesis. My mutant gene had somehow mutated, and by what I could pick up, my exposure to Lucy's power was the root cause, although they were unsure how that directly took place. So on the fifth day they decided to attempt a reenactment of the original process.

They brought Lucy in, heavily chained down to a gurney, and moved her onto the table right next to me. I tried gravely to turn my head against my brace to I could see her and what they were doing to her, but I was too exhausted to put in any real effort, my energy drained from all the trials I had been under. However, from my peripheral view I could see a large machine being dragged down and being settled in between us. They began to connect three aluminum tubes to each of her wrists and around the crown of her head; then connecting three silver wires to my left arm, poking them at three points into my largest vein, and switched on the machine. Lucy began to whimper immediately and twitch as the machine did what it was supposed to do. Ten seconds later I felt energy in the purest form enter my body like a burning wildfire tearing at the inside of my body. I gasped and panted, groaned and moaned, trying desperately not to scream from the pain. I could already feel the terror in this room, Lucy's terror that she was hurting me, I had to stay strong and not alarm her. But my plan was all for naught when those in black decided to turn up the power level, increasing. Perilously did I try not to cry as I felt the energy overtake me, but as they power reached six I began to shudder furiously as I cried out in agony.

"Stop it!" I hear Lucy scream out desperately in a mournful voice. The scientists paid no heed to her plead and my howls of misery, the continued to turn up the levels even higher. By eight I was shaking as if I was having a seizure, at nine I was thrashing so violently and began to choke on the stomach acid that began to rise from my bowels. It was then when one scientist finally advised the danger of continuing and lowered the power level back to one before switching off the machine. However my state had become critical and my thrashing failed to cease. The men tried with a panic to stabilize me, strapping me down with mutabraces but found no effect. My heartbeat wasn't slowing down and it was too fast for my body to last long.

I barely noticed as they all scrambled around me to put a stop to it, it felt as if my spirit was out of my body and what they were trying to save was an empty vessel. All my senses had been overridden by agony, mentally I felt dull as my physical body tried desperately to get rid of the excess amount of mutagenes in my body. Naturally I felt my own body correcting itself, my brain knew what had to be done. The genes infecting the body had to be destroyed.

"Look sir!" An assistant pointed out on the screen as to what was happening in my own body being viewed from the high definition cameras of the machine pouring through my skin and muscles to show what was happening in the cells themselves. "His mutagenes seem to be self destructing themselves!"

"You mean he's turning human? That's impossible!" The chief researcher scoffed.

"Well it's happening, a chain reaction has happened in an effort to save the rest of the body." Another scientist noted beside them.

"Stop it!" Lucy cried out again when she heard what they were saying. "This isn't right! You have no right to do this to him!"

I could hear the tears in her eyes, I knew she was crying for me, but I was too dulled by the pain to truly understand. The fact that I was turning human had yet to sink in and I failed to understand why she was sad, only that I wanted to comfort her. I tried calling her name, but nothing except air escaped my lips.

"Wait, another anomaly appeared." The head scientist stated as he watched the screen. He zoomed in on the odd spot and pointed right to it. "The nerves are beginning to be shut down in his left arm."

"This is similar to what happened in the subjects right arm." The assistant added. Lucy gasped quietly as she listened in on them.

"So by conducting the process on a mutant we can turn them human for only a limited time before they undergo complete paralysis from the head down." The other scientist (I'm gonna called scientist two) revealed.

"We need to conduct another trial on a new subject." The head scientist said.

"But sir we can't, we'd be operating outside of legal bounds, and our time is limited. We only have two days-"

"We're already in this too deep. If we manage to cure a mutant of this plague then we could save thousands more of becoming monsters." The head interrupted scientists two and began to make his way for the door. "Put subject one back in it's cell, and schedule the other for execution. He's of no use to us anymore."

The other two nodded and in came the same guards who brought both him and her into the laboratory. They went over to Lucy and began to unchain her from the table to put her back on the gurney they had brought her in on. However, this time, she fought back against them, struggling and worming around in their grasps. Her energy began to pulsate around her, her power building up, I could feel it hitting me in waves.

"No, let go of me! I won't let you kill him!" She scream as she resisted them, ripping herself from their grasp. More security ran in and tried to help hold Lucy down, a guard holding down each of her limbs as the scientists worked to restrain her. But Lucy simply turned their cuffs into powder and continued to fight.

"We need some heavy duty mutacuffs stat!" Scientist two shouted to the assistant, who ran away to get them. Taking everyone by surprise, Lucy turned the gurney she was on into cotton and fell to the ground into its soft cushioning, making the guards above her topple over. All of her previous fear of her powers had vanished, replaced with sheer determination to save my life. Next she took off the brace on her right arm that had been restricting her power for as long as he's known her, and raised her hand in the air. A thick cloud fog began to fill the room as she turned the air into suspended water droplets and provided Lucy the cover she needed to go undetected. Slipping under their radar, she made her way away from them, appearing at my side. I looked at her as she reached down to my restraints, turning them into cotton as well.

I couldn't move, and I think she knew that as well, so doing the best she could she placed me on her back and hauled me over her shoulder. Taking me from the table she began to head for the door, but was stopped when we were spotted.

"Over there! After them!" One of the guards shouted, but didn't get far. I was surprised when I saw Lucy's shoes turn into sand, but understood when the floor under the guards did as well, Lucy needed to touch the surface of what she was reconstructing. The sandpit was deep enough to stop them, but shallow enough for them to breath.

Going as fast as she could, Lucy ran from the underground system and made her way back to the academy above before the alarm could be triggered. They made it up to the first floor, the floor just below the ground floor of the school, before they met more trouble.

"Open fire, do not let the subject escape!" Another guard commanded as he and three others began to shoot rapid fire at us. Lucy turned around and covered me, taking the fire head on, removing another brace from her left arm. From where Iay limp on the ground before her, I could see the bullets turning to liquid the moment they touched her skin. But she couldn't keep it up forever, and more help was bound to appear at anytime.

"Say here." She told me as she formed a metal wall around me out of the floor. I watched her stand up and charge the down, taking on the bullets and reconstructing them in an instant. When she reached them she grabbed their guns and turned them into gravel, throwing the little rocks in the men's faces to disorient them. She trapped one of them in a sand pit, and another she pinned to the ground with locks made of the marble floor. The third manage to avoid her tricks and was beginning to push her back, pulling out a baton from his belt and attempting to strike her. Lucy finally managed to get the jump on him when she turned the air above his head into water, soaking him then turning the water on him into ice, freezing him in place.

If I could talk I would tell her what a badass she was.

Lucy ran back to me and continued on back up to the academy, the halls were full of students, most likely due to passing time. All eyes turned to them in shock and surprise, seeing the girl who was always so secluded carrying the motionless body of one of their most rowdy students.

"Where is Gray Fullbuster?" Lucy demanded the crowd, not receiving an answer. "Where is he?"

"Natsu!" Gray's voice sounded as he came running. "Oh my Mavis, what happened to him?!" He questioned as she handed me off to him.

"No time to explain, keep him safe, I have to go find the director." She said and turned to head for the director's office.

"Wait, Lucy! What's going on?" He yelled after her.

"Evacuate the school, it's not safe here!" She said back, not answering him. "I'll join you later."

Gray cursed and moved me onto his back. I watched as Lucy faded in the distance as she rounded a corner and ran away. Gray turned to everyone else in the hall.

"What are you all deaf? Evacuate the school!" He yelled at them and turned to leave as well.

Ten minutes later an official evacuation was called and all the students were sent out of the grounds beyond the wall. They were too far away from the nearest city, being up in the mountains, so the teachers set up emergency camps a few miles outside the school in a wide open field. Supplies had been taken from the storage and kitchens, but it would not last everyone a week, but once they were there they could not go back, it was too dangerous.

The students were confused as to what was going on, all of them, even the teachers, being blind to the truth. Many were having panic attacks, others were agitated, some taking it well; but all were concerned about why an emergency such as this was called.

The pain begun to dull as we made our way to the site and I could feel my body again, though it all still hurt, it would be another two hours before I could walk on my own again. It was actually humiliating having to be carried by Gray and Erza, the two of them switching off and Gajeel straight up refusing to. Until Elfman offered to carry him the rest of the way there as he transformed into a large bear.

"So Natsu, what exactly happened to you with Dr. Marson?" Gray asked nervously, getting the sense that he had made a mistake by sending me there.

"I'd rather not talk about it." I responded flatly.

"Was it bad?" Erza asked as well.

"I don't want to say." I said again, hoping they'd drop the subject, and they did.

When we arrived to our designated campsite according to our homeroom, I was set down on the grass while everyone else got to work setting up the tents. This truly was humiliating.

Four hours had passed since everyone arrived at the new site, tents were all set up but there was not enough for everyone, at least a third of the mutants there would have to sleep outside. Nourishment was being passed around as dinner time approached. It was then that Director Makarov made his appearance in the center of everyone.

"May I have everyone's attention?" He called over megaphone. The entire school turned to him, desperate for an answer to what was going on. "It had been made known to me that us mutants are facing an immediate danger that threatens our entire race. I'll let the one who's revealed all this to me explain." Makarov stepped down from his makeshift platform and handed the megaphone to Lucy. Lucy took it from him, saying something that I could not hear, then addressed the crowd.

"Fellow mutants I am one of you, born and raised and proud, however it is my power that has caused all this, but it will also be the one to stop all this." Lucy looked over a me and met my gaze, sorrow and apology in her eyes. "And it is also because of my power that I will be dead in thirty-eight hours."

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Cliffhanger, haha! School on tuesday and whatnot. Reviews you leave, my thanks I give.

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	9. Invisible Promises

"And it is also because of my power that I will be dead in thirty-eight hours."

As soon as those words reached my ears I felt my entire being sink down into the ground and wist away into blank nothingness. I forgot how to speak, how to smell, feel, taste, hear, I was so far gone that I didn't even notice I was hyperventilating. All the while I silently struggled for breath and continued to become paralyzed, even more so than I already was, all I could hold onto was the sound of Lucy's voice in desperation for an explanation.

She looked around the crowd before she continued, appearing to take in the faces of all those she was neglected from interacting with. I could only wonder what she was thinking of in this moment. What would it have been like for her if she was born with weaker powers? Would she have been able to live a normal life with her classmates, eating and laughing, playing games, watching movies and just goofing off? Maybe then she'd have a shot at normal friendships, she and I could have met sooner, become best friends sooner, and I would have fallen in love sooner. As I looked on and wondered these things, I saw her gaze meet mine, and I could see the sorrow that they held. Perhaps she was wishing for the same thing.

Her gaze didn't linger long however, and she soon turned her head away from me, back out the the broad numbers of the crowd.

"I know none of you know me," she began, "but I'm just like you. Born with powers that sent me here when I was younger. Yet, there's something about me that sets me apart. My powers have always been too powerful for me to control, and now they've become too much for my body to even contain. I've been labeled as an imminent threat by the government. For the past five years I've been experimented on by government scientists in the undergrounds of the academy, searching for a way to either destroy my power, or harness it. That's where a machine called the Muta Condensing and Manipulation Unit was created. In order to keep my power level low, I had to be put into the machine every day for a duration of time and have my power transformed into power that fueled everything in the school.

"However, last year I was told that I would detonate from a power burst so great that it would rupture my entire body. Not only that, but it would destroy eighty percent of the planet's surface.-" A wave of gasps sounded from the crowd. "Because of this I have to back into the machine and have all of my power transformed into energy. The result will be no more than the equivalent of a one ton bomb of dynamite. Approximately one-fifth to one-fourth of the school will be reduced to rubble, but from here you should only feel a slight shake and a gust of wind.

"The infiltration of our school by corrupt government agents and the use of mutant testing will have to be announced the Federal Mutant Protection Division. Dean Makarov will see to that. However, due to the explosion, almost all evidence will be lost. Therefore, I will have to create a separate layer covering the evidence in Graphite. The blast should be enough to damage if not crumble she shield, however the evidence will be left mostly untouched.

"All of you will have to report to the FMPD about the corruption that took place during the fourteen day panic a few months back, which was caused by the corrupt agents. I will be leaving in a few hours and will do my best to make sure this spot isn't discovered, but you must stay on edge in case you are. I may not have been directly among you, but I am proud to have attended this school." Lucy bowed her head and went off the makeshift stage, Dean Makarov taking her place and announcing defensive tactics to insure our safety. Although, no one was really paying him attention, for all of their eyes were on Lucy as she made her way back to a tent where the school board had set up. The entire crowd of students around her looked on in confusion, not understanding who she was and what she had gone through. I, myself, was one of them. All this time I had thought I was beginning to know Lucy, that I was the only one who truly understood her. Now I know just how wrong I was, she still kept me in the shadows.

I felt a twinge of pain poke at my heart, saddened by the fact that she still refused to rely on and trust me. But when I saw her face right as she entered the board's tent, the feeling went away and was replaced with understanding. That solid look that her face held told her entire story. A look of fear in the eyes of a face held by determination. She was scared of herself and what she could do, yet she was prepared to use her powers to save the innocent students at the academy.

Gray reappeared at my side, coming out from the crowd and taking a seat at my left side. He didn't say anything at first, but simply stared down at his hands, clenched into fists. I got the gist of what he wanted to say before he even spoke a word.

"I don't blame you." I told him. "Sure you fucked up, but it wasn't an intentional fuck up."

Gray let out a light-hearted chuckle and glanced over at me.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not much at the moment, but I can still move my legs." I say as I flail my feet around to provide emphasis. Gray's eyes only went dark again as he looked away in shame. "You didn't cause this."

"But I aided to it." He muttered through gritted teeth as he shook, trying to keep himself from crying. "If I had known who it was I was sending you to, then this never would have happened. You wouldn't be _like this!_ "

"Yeah you're right-" I say before aiming a kick at his head, hitting him in the cheek and landing me in an awkward position on the ground; which I couldn't get up from since I lost all feeling in both arms.

"What the fuck was that about you flame shit! You're supposed to be comforting me!" Gray yelled at me as he brought a hand to his bruising face.

"Well what do you want me to do? Suddenly get time powers and fix myself? Stop bruiting and look at the bright side, at least I didn't die."

"That still didn't give you reason to hit me!"

"With that ugly mug, how could I resist!"

Gray then proceeded to try and tackle me as I used my legs as my only defense, kneeing him in the chin as he pounded me in the gut. By the end of it I was in an even more uncomfortable position on my side with my arms wildly sprawled about. Gray laid next to me, in a obviously more comfortable position on his back.

"Feel better?" I breathed out an inquiry.

"Physically, no." He shot back sarcastically. "But yeah, thanks Natsu."

"You're welcome my dude. Now could you help be back on my mat? I'd prefer not to be a mutant pretzel."

"Oh shit, yeah, of course." Gray said and got up to help me back into my previous position on my sleeping mat, my back resting against a stack of pillows to keep me somewhat upright.

"Thank you, now I can finally brea-" Suddenly I couldn't breath. The numbness traveling through my body had made its way to my lungs and throat, and I started to suffocate.

"Natsu? Natsu what's wrong?" The ice mutant asked in increasing worry. He tried to shake me, but I failed to mutter a single word to him. Dots were starting to cover my vision as my body shook on its own from lack of oxygen. Realizing that I was somehow choking, and he couldn't do anything to help me, Gray screamed out for help.

A couple of onlookers, saw what was going on, and rushed to help. The tired to do CPR On me, others ran for help, but I knew that only one could save me.

"L-L-Lu-L-Lu-c-cy." I choked out. Gray caught on and immediately ran to find who I was calling for. The others who surrounding me, Erza, Levy, and Gajeel arriving by my side, looked on in horror not knowing what to do.

My vision was nearly completely black, when Lucy came sprinting towards me. I couldn't see my own face, but if I could I bet I was purple by now and quickly becoming white.

"What happened?" Lucy demanded when she finally reached me and fell to her knees by my side.

"I don't know! We were talking then he suddenly began to choke!" Gray exclaimed, standing up behind her. Lucy ran her hands up and down my arm, across my chest, eventually reaching my neck; yet I didn't feel a thing. She searched my energy to see if there was a sudden change in power, if I was losing to much of my muta genes I would surely die. But by the look on her face that probably wasn't the cause.

"The injection of my power reached his throat and is quickly approaching his heart. It's suffocating him." She explained as she removed both of her arm cuffs, settling herself above me, my head now on her lap. Resting her palms on my neck and over my heart she focused all of her attention and the excessive amount of power she needed into rewriting my genetic code, removing the intruding mutation that was turning human. A crowd started to gather around the tent in which I lie, attracted by the commotion and appearance of the student who just revealed herself to all.

The crowd eventually became so overwhelming that Lucy was struggling to concentrate and had to ask Gray to hold them back to give her space. So with the help of Erza and Gajeel, Gray was able to put a good distance between them and the tent; leaving Lucy and I alone together.

Gradually I could feel my strength returning and the numbness leave. My breathing became steady once more, and I was finally able to feel the movement of Lucy's hands over me. Once she saw that she had stopped the spread around my heart, she moved over to my arms, trying to undo her initial mistake along with the infliction caused by the government scientists. The process over all was slow, as the genetic makeup of a mutant was much more delicate and complicated than a human. Hours seemed to pass as Lucy patiently gave me back my ability to move.

When she at last restored my arms she went to fix my left leg, where the power injection continued to disperse and threatened to leak back into the rest of my body. However, before she could start, the Dean entered the tent.

"It's almost time, you have to leave in five minutes if you want to make it by the deadline." He announced to her. Lucy nodded her head, faking confidence, but we both saw her eyes falter. Makarov looked between me and her and gave a light-hearted sigh. "I'll give you some time to talk." He said as he walked out.

For a few moments we both sat in silence, the air tense, with her facing away from me, neither of us know what to say. After half a minute, Lucy turned back and refocused her power on my leg.

"Lucy." I called gently for her.

"What?" She replied back with a sort of cold voice.

"I love you." I whispered, knowing full well that it sounded sappy. But when you're faced with circumstances like mine, one wouldn't really care.

Lucy gasped quietly and stopped healing him out of shock and precaution, as she could no longer focus. She looked to me, her large brown eyes holding back a wave of tears, a fire of obvious anger and regret lighting them.

"I told you not to." She said in a shaky voice through gritted teeth. "I told you that I won't be able to feel the same!" Finally the tears began to fall and she hid her face away from my sight in her hands. "Do you realize what this means for you?" She shuttered. "This can only lead to your remorse and sadness, no joy could ever come out of this!"

"Miss Lucy Heartfilia." I murmur as I push myself up into a sitting position, laying a soft palm on her cheek and bringing her to look at me directly. "I'd rather have fallen in love with you with the chance of losing you, than have never had met you at all."

I wiped a tear away from her eye, but was then met with more. Lucy grasped onto my hand and nuzzled her face into my palm.

"Can you promise something?" I inquired in a small voice, Lucy gave me her attention and asked what it was. "Tell me that you'll try to come back." Lucy's eyes widened before she looked down in melancholy. "Please?"

Lucy didn't give a reply, and Makarov came back in to tell her she had to go before she could. Lucy answered him that she was ready and stood up to leave after him. I watched as she went, fear clutching my heart, afraid that it was true that she would never come back. As she walked out I felt a little piece of me get crushed with every step she took.

She left without saying goodbye; or looking back.

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She left at about eight O'clock at night, using the coverage of night as an ally against the government forces. Well into the night, sounds of grenade explosions, gunfire, and indistinguishable use of power echoes through the mountains. Sleep did not come easily to anyone that night, all still puzzled and shock by the news they had heard hours earlier. Many of the student body where not okay with letting one of them sacrifice herself for the rest of them. Some wanted to help find another way to stop what was due to happen, but none knew how. And no one was as plagued by these thoughts like I. I wanted to find a way to stop Lucy from dying, I wanted so bad to go and save her, but I didn't know how to. The night began to pass by as the moon was high in the sky.

I stared at the moon through the entryway of the tent, and gazed at how the moonlight made the grass glitter from the due that began to gather there. I thought about that night where Lucy and I had snuck out to the gardens, the first time she had left the insides of the school in years. I thought back to when she reached out for that flower, and how it turned to water in just a single touch.

Then it dawned on me, there _was_ a way for Lucy to survive this! If she used a large enough amount of energy reconstructing something so large that it took nearly all of her muta to do, she could counteract the growing muta within her.

Lucy could live.

In excitement, I got up from my sleeping mat and silently made my way outside on all fours. Careful not to wake Gray or Gajeel, whom I shared my tent with. Once out I kept low and crawled, for multiple reasons, my way out of camp. Once reaching the border of the forest I stood to my feet and lit up my hand to see. Carefully I took my first step, and nearly fell, but caught myself. I still couldn't walk properly, having a rather large limp; but it was more than enough thanks to Lucy.

Using the trees around me to get around I hurriedly headed back for the academy. I needed time to tell her my plan, and enough time to enact it.

Mavis I hope this works.

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It's been a while I know. I was originally going to kill both of them but enough people asked me not to to change my mind. BUT! that doesn't mean they're going to get off scot free. (Manic Laughter) Welp, see ya in the next update!

The next chapter maybe the last, unless it doesn't work out that way or if y'all want an epilogue. Házmelo saber si ustedes quieren.

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	10. Invisible Future

I limped hurriedly as fast as I possibly could through the late night woods, the cool wind pushing past me and nipping at my sides and ear tips. My right leg had become strained and was burning due to overuse. A small level of sensation had come back to my left leg, but not enough to where I could walked normally on it once again, so I was forced to solve most of my weight onto my other leg and gain a horrible limp. Using my powers to create a lamp in my hands, I ran through the shadowed trees for what seemed like hours, but I knew I couldn't have been moving for more than two. My restricted movement had caused me to fall multiple times, now I bared several scratches and bruises, my clothes torn in various places, but I kept on going; hoping that I could reach Lucy in time before it was too late.

Halfway through the run I heard the sounds of battle once again rejuvenate, most likely indicating that Lucy had reached the academy grounds and was currently fighting the guards there. I knew perfectly well how skilled Lucy was at defending herself, I saw it myself when she was saving me. Even so, though I knew this, I could not help but wonder if she was getting hurt, if she was struggling with bad odds or was surrounded by greater numbers. My logic was being overridden by my anxiety and I couldn't help but fear for her safety.

Not too much longer after that the sounds began to die down and the previous silence was regained. I felt my pace slow momentarily before quickly accelerating out of fear for her life. I was scared that Lucy had lost to the rouge agents, but I was afraid that she survived and was now on her way to the machine to go die.

After what seemed like a heart wrenching amount of time, the line break of the trees at last came into view. Despite the fact that I was already tired and drained of energy, I ran full throttle out the forest that surrounded the school and busted for the gates. The front gates and road were covered with bodies and discarded weapons littering the grass and pavement. Whether they were alive or dead, I did not know. Although no blood was seen anywhere. Pushing past this unsightly scene, I headed onward for where I knew the underground laboratory was.

The insides of the building was nearly pitch dark, the only light other than my own being the patches of moonlight from the windows, but even that was dim due to the moon being at a waning crescent. Light waves of wind currents blew by me, riding chills up my spine, slipping into the building through cracks in the walls and windows. The breeze blew through the long corridors, creating an eerie underline hum around me. Every so often my ablaze hands would shine upon an unconscious (or dead) body and I would find myself jumping back in surprised fright. These bodies showed no blood as well, signifying no physical damaged, yet they all looked a tad bit too pale for me.

With my footsteps echoing harmoniously behind me I walked briskly down the corridors until I arrived at the door opening that served as the gateway to the underground system of laboratories and cells. The steps down were even darker than the halls, and I had to increase my flame. Sprinting down the stairwell I went flight after flight until I reached the ground floor that held the machine Lucy was after. Behind the door of the lab I could hear movement, which I guessed was being made by Lucy mucking around with that blasted machine. Opening the door I threw myself in and was met with an icicle as sharp as a dagger being thrown at me. Out of instinct and an adrenaline rush I shot a blast of fire at the ice and saw it evaporate a foot in front of my face, narrowly shaving me from death's clutches. I blinked and looked up, Lucy was standing on the opposite side of the room with her hand out in an offensive pose, a puzzled and anxious look on her beautiful face.

"Natsu what are you doing here?" She demanded and put her extended hand down. "I told you that I had to do this alone!"

"No you don't!" I told her and stumbled over, falling at her feet out of exhaustion. Lucy quickly caught me before I could hit the ground, and set me down gently.

"Natsu," She cried and brushed a strand of hair out of my face, "this is something you can't fix, let it go."

"No!" I denied. "You can still be saved. If you were to use up enough muta by reconstructing a large enough object, you could drain your powers until you become stable."

"Nat-" She began desperately but choked on her own words and fell back. I tried to reach out for her but she held a hand up and told me to stay back. The hair on my arms stood up as I felt the muta power levels around us rise. Her powers began to pulsate and she temporarily lost control, her energy bursting at the seams.

Curling in on herself as she laid on her side, she screamed in pain as it became too much for her to bear. The table beside her turned to bench, then to a tree, to steam, to coal. The floor around her turned to gravel, then copper, then to dirt. More and more items changed until she calmed down and was left tired on the floor of dirt and sand.

"Natsu we've run out of time, I can't go on hope anymore." Lucy sighed in despair. "And even if it did work, my power will only continue to build up, in seven years or so I'll be ready to erupt again. I have to do this now while I still can." After that Lucy stood and pushed me against the wall. Before I could say a word the wall behind me began to wrap itself around me and cover me as if it were armor glued to a stand. I couldn't move a muscle.

"This armor is made of adamantine, a metal created in this lab with my powers, nothing can break through, you'll be safe."

"But Lucy-"

"I'm sorry Natsu." Lucy said as she touched the wall next to her, creating a rag and a clear liquid, dabbing the rag in said liquid that was currently sliding down the wall to the floor. She walked towards me. "But I have to do this." She shoved the cloth against my nose and I inhaled.

My vision began to blur and fade, my mind became fuzzy and I felt drowsy.

"Lucy…" I murmured as I felt myself fade.

I then blacked out. I could only guess that she had created chloroform.

…

When I came to I was immediately met with a headache and a dry mouth. I thirsted, and looked around for water, but saw nothing but metal. Suddenly my memory hit me and I realized where I was.

"Lucy!" I called out in alarm, afraid that I had been too late and she had went into the machine.

Peering out into the space around me I saw that most of the equipment had been covered in a protective layer of stone. Lucy was at the computer center that connected to the machine, turning on the machine and setting the process up.

"Lucy stop!" I called again.

Lucy looked up from the screen of the connected computer, obviously distressed that I had woken up again.

"No Natsu, I have to do this." She said as firmly as she could while shaking. I could tell that she was stressed and scared about what was about to happen to her, what she was going to do to herself. I again told her that this was not necessary and that there was another way, but she wouldn't listen, telling me that there was no time to waste.

Lucy imputed a code that unlocked the system, and turned the setting to a high power of conversion. The screen started to load and showed a countdown to launch, just five minutes.

I yelled for her, but she ignored my cries. Without looking at me, she raised a hand in my direction, and a blast shield formed over my face, with two minuscule air holes. I bent my head as much as I could to look through as she walked in, shutting the door behind her. The metal door of the converter had a small plexiglass window several inches thick that allowed me to see just a smidgen of her face.

Tears.

She was crying.

The countdown hit zero. The machine came alive with a loud roar and a bright orange light shined through the sides and window. A buzz went through my body and air as the muta levels skyrocketed and consumed the area in energy. The fair on my neck and arms raised in response, and I felt my senses heighten beyond the normal limit. A blood curdling scream of pure and exquisite pain erupted no more than half a second after the machine switched on. It made sense for it to be painful, we mutants were kept alive by our muta genes, without them we'd die, so having them ripped out of the DNA must be a torture like no other. Yet, seeing her eyes roll back in torment, and her body jerking around in agony; I could not stand to watch, as I felt the pain with her.

Lighting my entire being on fire I tried to heat up and melt the adamantine metal armor around me; but I could not do so fast enough, and Lucy continued to have her life drained away. I knew very well that if she went off while I was out of the armor that I could die, but I was willing to take the risk to shut it down.

Timeless minutes went by until I finally was met with some (rather painful) results. The metal began to slowly melt. But it melted above my skin and began to burn my body. I may be a fire mutant, but even I was susceptible to burns. Lucy's screams were soon joined by shouts of my own, though less frantic. I gained back some movement and was beginning to force myself out when things went drastically wrong.

The charts of power appearing on the screen were rising beyond a rate that the machine could not handle all at once. The screen turned red and flashed: WARNING! Signifying to shut down the process. If the power levels went beyond 100,000 the machine may burst or malfunction. However, Lucy's powers were already at 250,000 and still climbing. The computer warmed a catastrophic collapse within ten seconds.

I desperately wanted to grab Lucy and pull her away, but I had only managed to get my right arm out of its safety guard when the countdown began, and before I knew it, my vision was filled with white and my ears became deaf.

A blast went off a completely obliterated everything around the machine. The protective cover of the evidence was blown through in seconds and the lab was left nearly unrecognizable. The capsule which held Lucy disintegrated and practically vanished, most of it turning to ash. The bottom floor of the building blew open like the top of a volcano, shooting up metal, lab equipment, miscellaneous items, and me. Three fourths of the entire academy grounds was left in ruins, and a shock wave was sent out that blew down trees.

I could only hope that the camp was still safe and left unharmed.

I couldn't remember exactly what happened to me, as I temporarily went both deaf and blind, but the next thing I knew I was laying a hundred feet away from the blast zone, my armor in pieces and piercing my body in some spots, but I thanked the mostly solid adamantine for saving me from death. Ash, dust, and dirt coated my skin, which was now covered in third degree burns on my the right side of my face, all up my right arm, right side, and stomach. However, with shock taking over and adrenaline pumping through my body, my wounds only felt numb. Coughing out the smoke from by lungs, I forced myself into a sitting position and looked around me; all I saw was fire.

Getting up onto my legs I immediately fell down, lacking the strength to walk, so I resolved to crawl. I yelled out for Lucy, my voice sounding tunneled in my ears. I searched for her, returning back to the epicenter of the explosion and looked down into what was now a crater. There at the bottom I saw Lucy, her clothes burned away, her body left naked and covered in ash and dirt, but not by wounds. I paid no attention to her state of dress and fell down the edge and tumbled down to her, still not able to walk. She laid nearly lifeless staring in defeat at the sky. Now up close I could see that she did have wounds, but the damaged skin and cells were being reformed.

Lucy was the first to speak.

"I failed…" She whispered, "...and now everyone is going to die. There's no way they can escape the blast."

"There's still something you can do." I said laying next to her in exhaustion, placing my hand on hers, using up the very last of my strength to do so. Instantaneously I felt my wound begin to shift and disappear. I inwardly gasped in awe of her powers; so special and amazing they were.

"Natsu, I don't know if it will work." She murmured, remorse filling every word.

"Not much to lose now." I chuckled dryly. "And if you do go down, I'm happy I was with you at the end."

I heard Lucy suck in a breath after I spoke those words, I chuckled lightly and relaxed where I was. Feeling no pain, ignoring my regrets. All I had in this moment was Lucy, and that was more than enough happiness to last me a lifetime. I could pass on peacefully now.

"I love you." I heard her say quietly.

My mind went blank and kicked into overdrive when I heard those words. I turned to look over at her, but she was gone, and I felt the ground beneath me move. I realized that I was moving up on a large tower made of stone. I peek down what was now hundreds of feet down, and I saw what I never could have dreamed of.

The land around Lucy began reconstructing into water. All of it, the grass, the dirt, the trees, the hills. The entire mountain was sinking down into the earth as a massive lake was formed. The land down the mountain, where the camp, began to rise up higher than the water level, slowly forming a new, smaller mountain. Then as the water began to flood over the lands, a crevice formed and split the surface of the earthland in two, creating a river that was one mile long in width and, as I could see, spilled into the sea, which was sixty-eight miles away.

Up from my birds-nest I watched as the entire face of the earth was changed, creating an entirely new landscape. A new mountain just twelve miles away from the old one stood nearly six thousand feet tall. In the spot where the old mountain sat was now a lake three hundred and forty-five miles long. All previous Indications of the devastation by the explosion was now completely gone.

The pedestal I was on began to sink back to earthland and form an island in the midst of the lake. When I at last stood back on what was now ground level, I stared in awe at was now here. A new forest, larger and more diverse, now surrounded the lake and mountain.

Stumbling around the island I searched for Lucy until I found her floating offshore of the island. Wading through the waters, I pulled her into my hands and carried her back to the island, setting her down on the grass under a maple tree.

She was unconscious and obviously tired, but the rise and fall of her bare chest told me she was still alive. Though I could sense her power level was significantly to where even I was more powerful. She had dropped down from the most powerful mutant, to the bottom level. Looking at her I could see how a reconstruction as large as the one she just did had changed her. Her hair was no longer down to her waist, and barley even met her shoulders. She was smaller, seeming to shrink a few inches, and I could see that she went down a cup size or two, not that I minded, that's not what attracted me to her.

Yet, the thing that stood out the most, was that her left eye socket was left empty.

All of these occurrences showed just how much of a toll that much of her power had on her. But if it meant that I got to spend my years with her, I would never make a difference to me, I can only hope it's the same for her.

Coming back to consciousness, Lucy lazily looked around slowly till her single eye landed on me. A relieved smile crawled onto her face and she let out a sigh.

"It worked?"

I nodded and hummed in affirmation. "Yeah, it did. But at a price."

Lucy looked down at her body and saw the differences, but paid them no mind.

"That's alright. I'm alive." She said. "And so are you."

Grinning, I took of my jacket and placed it over her so she could cover up, Lucy thanked me and leaned into me when I sat her up against me as I leaned against the tree.

"I never got to say it before, but…" I gently grabbed Lucy's face and pulled her face over to look at me directly. "I love you, Miss Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy's smile grew larger, " I told you not to."

"You said it first."

Lucy rolled her eyes and put her head back into the crevice of my neck and sighed in content. I could tell from the months that I've known her, that this is the first times she's felt this happy and relaxed in years.

"Lucy, can I kiss you?" I asked softly. Lucy lifted her head and looked at me in surprise, a beautiful red blush spreading across her cheeks.

"I didn't expect you to ask." She told me.

"I would never force myself on you." I declared to her. "May I?"

Lucy nodded, a heartfelt smile, small and almost not there, on her face, tears of joy prickling at her eyes.

"You may."

Taking my cue I gingerly placed my lips on hers, they were cracked and dry, just like mine, it hurt and felt like sandpaper, but to me in this moment, nothing could ever be as soft or as sweet. Through all the tumult and the strife, we both made it and conquered over the things that were holding us captive. The invisible chains that held both her and I and fallen off at last, and now we could finally be as we were always meant to, in each others arms.

The next step was going difficult, the government was still corrupt, and it was unknown if this technology was leaked to anyone else. If this got out and was turned into weapons, another civil war could very well start between the mutants and the humans. A meet had to be set with the state and negotiation must be made if both were to survive.

But I will leave that all to future for now, for in this moment, I had my own little paradise of just Lucy and I here on this island. Which would be the perfect place to build a home and start a family.

But again, that's all for the future,

It was time to meet up with Gray and the others.

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Woah I didn't think this would be the last chapter! But here it is! This may very well be my last NaLu fanfic, I'm starting to wrap up my fanfics so I can focus on being a novelist, taking classes and all that. However, I just might make a new one later, maybe in a couple months, but it's not a definite yes.

I love all of you m followers, I want to thank you for being with me all these years, especially those of you who have been with me throughout several of my stories, your contribution are what kept me writing and what inspired me to seek out a career as a writer.

I hope you enjoyed my stories, I had a lot of fun writing them. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay happy; remember my PM box is always open if y'all wanna talk. I love y'all, goodbye.

p.s the size of the lake is similar to Lake Superior. Byeeeeeee~

Favorite, follow, review~


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